Best Friends Forever
by IceQueenRia
Summary: From age 5, Morgana, Merlin and Arthur were best friends. Each had a bracelet, Morgana’s said BEST Merlin’s said FRIENDS Arthur’s said FOREVER and his was the first bracelet to break. It appeared as though FOREVER was not meant to be. Merlin/Arthur SLASH
1. Prologue

**Best Friends Forever**

**Disclaimer-I do not own Merlin**

**Summary: **From age 5, Morgana, Merlin and Arthur were the best of friends. They each had a bracelet, Morgana's said 'BEST', Merlin's said 'FRIENDS', Arthur's said 'FOREVER' and his was the first bracelet to break. It appeared as though 'FOREVER' was not meant to be.

**Prologue **

Clutching tightly to his mother's hand, Merlin allowed himself to be steered towards the entrance doors of the school. To the five year old boy, the building of Ealdor Primary School looked large and intimidating. So many fears flickered through his head. What if he got lost within this maze of bricks? What if he didn't make any friends? What if he wasn't smart enough to understand what his teacher taught him? What if his mummy forgot to pick him up at the end of the day?

"Relax Merlin." Hunith said as she patted his dark messy hair in an attempt to make it look neater. "There's nothing to fear."

"Why do I have to come to school mummy?" Merlin asked as he stared up at her with his big blue eyes.

"Because you're a big boy now." Hunith told him proudly as she crouched down to his level and took his hands in her own. "And big boys go to school so they can learn things and make friends. You'll enjoy yourself, I promise. Now, let's go and meet your teacher shall we?"

Merlin nodded his head though it was clear from his expression that he simply wanted to hold tight to his mum and just go home.

They stepped into the classroom together and Merlin looked around the room. There were many tables and chairs around the room and a carpet space beside a small shelf of interesting looking books. As Merlin scanned the walls he found a lot of bright coloured pictures were pinned up on the display boards and as he looked out of the large windows he could see a playground and a large field.

A few children were already sat down on the carpet area playing together and as one of the boys turned round to look at him, Merlin pressed himself closer to his mum not liking this strange dark haired boy at all.

Hunith introduced herself to the teacher and they shook hands before the teacher bent down to say hello to her new pupil.

"Hello Merlin." The pretty lady said. "I'm your teacher, Miss Coulby."

"Hello Miss Coulby." He replied shyly.

"Why don't you say goodbye to your mummy and then go and sit down with the others?" Miss Coulby asked kindly.

Merlin cast a look to his mum looking hesitant.

"It'll be alright Merlin." Hunith told him as she pulled him in for a cuddle. "You be a good boy and have a good day."

"Bye, bye mummy." Merlin replied miserably as he watched her go with reproachful eyes.

Another child had entered with their parents and Miss Coulby was talking to them now.

Bringing his thumb up to his mouth, Merlin cautiously made his way over to the carpet area. He stood slightly apart from the others just watching them as they played. The new blonde girl who had entered skipped over to the group of children and happily introduced herself as Princess Vivian. As easily as that, the other children accepted her and handed her some toys to play with.

In came another girl with china skin and long dark hair that was pulled into a neat braid that ran down the length of her back. She had full lips and sparkly eyes and was wearing a pretty pink sundress.

The dark haired boy that Merlin didn't like stood up and took the beautiful girl's hand in his and pressed a kiss to it.

"Yuck!" The girl cried wiping her hand on her dress.

"Come and play with me." The boy said as he grinned at her with snot streaming down his nose.

"No thank you." She replied.

She moved past him and sat beside the other girls who were already playing on the carpet. As Merlin watched, he saw speaking to Princess Vivian before she rolled her eyes at the other children then stood up making her way over to Merlin.

"Hello." She greeted brightly.

"Hi." Merlin replied, his voice muffled slightly due to the thumb in his mouth.

"My name's Morgana LeFay." She told him. "But you can call me Gana. We're going to be great friends. What's your name?"

"I'm Merlin." He told her as he pulled his thumb out of his mouth.

"Merlin's a stupid name." The dark haired boy who had kissed Morgana's hand said nastily.

"Well you have a stupid face." Morgana retorted in Merlin's defence before taking her new friend's hand and leading him to the other side of the carpet that was closest to the books. "Can you read?"

"Yes." Merlin replied proudly. "My uncle Gaius taught me."

"I can't read yet." Morgana admitted. "I love looking at the pictures though. Hey I know, you can read to me."

Morgana than selected the book that had the most attractive cover and she and Merlin sat down together and the boy read the story to her, only having a small bit of difficulty with some of the longer words.

Children were still arriving and saying goodbye to their parents and Miss Coulby was greeting everyone and helping the new children settle.

One of the last children to enter was a blonde haired, blue eyes boy. He was accompanied by a tall man wearing an expensive suit. Although all the other parents had chatted to Miss Coulby for a few minutes and hugged or kissed their children goodbye, this man merely shook the teacher's hand then patted the blonde boy on the shoulder before leaving.

The blonde boy took a seat at one of the tables and looked over the other children.

Merlin had just finished reading Morgana the story of 'Sleeping Beauty' when Miss Coulby called for all the children to sit in a circle on the carpet.

Holding hands, Merlin and Morgana sat down together beside Miss Coulby's comfy chair and the other children seated themselves around them. Apart from the blonde boy. He stayed at the table still surveying all of them.

"Arthur." Miss Coulby called sweetly. "Aren't you going to come and sit with us?"

Arthur shook his head and some of the other children started whispering.

"Ok." Miss Coulby replied offering the blonde a smile. "Maybe you'll sit with us next time. Now, we're going to go around the room and everybody is going to say their names and then tell us something about themselves. I'll start. My name is Miss Coulby and I love chocolate cake."

The teacher then indicated for Morgana to speak next.

"I'm Morgana LeFay." She spoke confidently as she sat up a little stranger. "And when I grow up I want to be the Devil."

"That's different." Miss Coulby laughed before indicating for Merlin to introduce himself next.

"I'm Merlin Emrys." He said shyly. "And for Christmas I want a pet unicorn."

"Don't be stupid." The dark haired boy said. "Unicorns aren't real."

"Valiant, that's not a nice thing to say." Miss Coulby told the rude boy. "Now apologize to Merlin."

"Sorry." Valiant huffed folding his arms across his chest.

They continued on around the circle each child introducing themselves and saying something about his or herself.

"Now you Arthur." Miss Coulby said encouragingly.

"I'm Arthur Pendragon." Arthur told the class. "And my father doesn't love me."

"Oh Arthur, I'm sure that's not true." Miss Coulby told him and the blonde just shrugged.

During the time remaining until morning break, Miss Coulby and the children went through their ABC's together as well as counting up to one hundred and identifying the names of shapes Miss Coulby drew on the blackboard.

At break, they headed out onto the playground. Most of the children ran around playing 'Tag' but Merlin and Morgana played in the sandpit whilst Arthur sat by himself on a bench watching the others play.

"Arthur looks said." Morgana sighed as she discreetly looked over at the blonde.

"Maybe we should ask him to play with us." Merlin suggested.

"No." Morgana replied. "I think he'll come and play when he's ready too. Guess what Merlin."

"What?" He asked looking at her in wonder.

"I'm getting sand in my knickers." Morgana giggled and Merlin couldn't help but laugh too.

After break they were back in the classroom and Miss Coulby had them all sit at a desk. She then handed them some paper and crayons and asked them all to do a drawing of anything they wanted.

"Wow, good art work kids." Miss Coulby complimented as she walked around the room peering over their shoulders. "That's beautifully coloured Vivian."

"I know." Princess Vivian replied smugly.

"Nice work Valiant." Miss Coulby said as she looked over the boy's drawing of a green squiggle that she took to be a snake. "Lovely Morgana." She smiled as she admired the girl's picture of a raven. "Brilliant Merlin." She praised. "Very imaginative."

"Thank you Miss." Merlin grinned as he picked up an orange crayon to do the fire coming out of his dragon's mouth.

"What are you doing Arthur?" Miss Coulby asked as she moved around to the blonde who was once again sat alone. She looked down at his paper to find that it was untouched.

"I don't feel like drawing today." Arthur told her.

"Never mind sweetie." Miss Coulby said as she rubbed the boy's back wondering what could be troubling the boy. He didn't seem to be settling in as well as the others. Perhaps his father's hasty leave was the reason behind it.

After eating lunch, the children were taken out onto the playground again. Miss Coulby and some other teachers were walking about making sure the children behaved and that nobody got hurt. Miss Coulby was also keeping a close eye on Arthur who was once again sat alone on a bench watching the other children play.

Eventually, Arthur stood up and made his way over to Merlin and Morgana who were playing hopscotch.

"You have big ears." Arthur told Merlin as he reached his hand up to touch one. "I like that."

"Oh…thanks." Merlin replied a little uncertainly as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt.

"You have long hair." Arthur then said to Morgana. "It's pretty. I want you two to be my friends." He said decisively.

"Group hug." Morgana ordered with a smile holding her arms out to the two boys.

The three new friends wrapped their arms around each other and Morgana placed a kiss on top of the two boys' heads. Seeing the interaction between Arthur and the other two, Miss Coulby smiled.

"We're going to be best friends." Morgana told the two of them in a voice that suggested she knew something the others didn't. "Forever and ever."

"Forever and ever." Merlin and Arthur echoed together before they returned to their game of hopscotch, this time with Arthur joining in.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	2. Through the Years

**Disclaimer-I don't own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing, it makes me smile**

**Chapter 1-Through the Years**

**Age 6**

Arthur was older than his two best friends Merlin and Morgana. Morgana was the second eldest and Merlin was the youngest. So Arthur turned six years old before the other two but he didn't have a birthday party to celebrate. His father never let him have a party. He said it was a waste of time and money.

When Morgana's birthday came about she had a party in a hall with a clown named Trickler. There was also a table of party food and they played a lot of games like 'Musical Bumps' and 'Musical Statues'.

Everyone in their class had been invited. Not because Morgana wanted the other children at her party but because her parents had insisted that she invite the whole class so as not to upset people's feelings. Morgana had complained at first but after realising that the more people who came the more gifts she'd receive she calmed down.

A few months later and it was Merlin's birthday. His mum told him he could do whatever he wanted so Merlin invited Arthur and Morgana out to a trip to a farm where they saw one of the sheep give birth to a lamb. They had even been allowed to pet some of the farm animals. Morgana had cooed over the baby lambs and Merlin was fascinated by the pigs whilst Arthur was completely enchanted by the horses, a pure white one in particular. The blonde had truly enjoyed stroking the steed's long nose and the farmer had even allowed him to groom the horse.

It had taken Hunith a long time to then convince Arthur to leave the horse stables so they could all go and eat.

**Age 7**

It was December and the field of Ealdor Primary School was powdered with snow. The children had to pull on their wellington boots and wrap up warm before they were allowed outside to play in the snow.

Most of the boys were running around throwing snowballs at each other whilst some of the girls were working together on building a snowman. Princess Vivian had decided to lay down and make snow angels but she cried afterwards when noticed the white flakes in her blonde hair.

Merlin, Arthur and Morgana were running around together laughing and having fun. Arthur sneakily grabbed a handful of snow then dropped it down the back of Morgana's neck causing her to shriek from the cold. As a form of revenge, Morgana tackled the older boy to the ground and rubbed snow in his face.

Arthur just laughed before shoving her to the side then pulling Merlin down with them. Merlin chuckled and they all sat on their knees throwing snow at one another. All three of them were cold but they didn't care.

"Stop, I want to show you something." Morgana told them and the two boys threw a final ball of snow at one another before facing her expectantly.

She pulled off one of her gloves so she could search her coat pocket. The girl then produced a slightly squashed bramble of mistletoe which she held high over their heads.

"Now you two have to kiss." She told them in a sing-song voice.

"Not if we don't want to." Arthur replied.

"Yes you do, its tradition." Morgana insisted.

"I thought boys were supposed to kiss girls." Merlin said in a confused voice.

"Not all the time." Morgana told him. "Boys can kiss other boys too and girls can kiss other girls. It doesn't matter. I suppose I'll have to kiss you though Merlin because Arthur's too afraid."

"I'm not afraid." Arthur whined feeling a large bruise to his pride.

"Then prove it." Morgana challenged.

"Fine." Arthur replied before leaning forwards and gently pressing his lips against Merlin's. "See, I'm not scared of anything." He said smugly.

"Eww." An annoying voice interrupted and the three best friends turned round to see Valiant standing before them wearing a yellow bobble hat. "You were kissing that is sooo gross. Arthur and Merlin sitting in a tree, K-I-S-I-N!" Valiant sang.

"It's K-I-S-S-I-N-G you poo-poo head." Morgana corrected before standing up and brushing the snow off of her legs. "And you're just jealous because no boy or girl would ever want to kiss you."

After poking his tongue out at them Valiant stormed off and Arthur quickly scooped a ball of snow and took aim successfully hitting the boy in the back of the head.

Merlin and Morgana laughed and applauded in appreciation.

**Age 8**

For her eighth birthday, Princess Vivian had a slumber party. She invited all the girls in her class apart from Morgana.

Morgana wasn't upset because she didn't like Vivian and her stupid friends anyway. However, she did decide that she wanted to have a sleepover. The only problem was that she didn't have any girls to invite over. She only had Merlin and Arthur but she wasn't sure if they'd be allowed because they were boys.

Still, Morgana put on her prettiest dress and fixed her hair in pretty pig tails before seating herself in her daddy's lap and smiling sweetly.

"Daaaaad?" She asked trying to look as innocent and adorable as possible.

"What do you want trouble?" He asked as he tickled her tummy slightly making her giggle.

"Can I have a sleepover?" Morgana asked outright.

"Of course you can." He told her. "But not on a school night. It will have to be on a weekend and you can't invite too many friends."

"I only want to invite Merlin and Arthur." Morgana replied and her dad frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea Morgs." Mr. LeFay said.

"Why not?" Morgana asked stroppily as she moved off of her dad's lap. "You just said I could have a sleepover why are you changing your mind?"

"Merlin and Arthur are boys sweetheart." He explained. "It wouldn't be appropriate for you to have a sleepover with two boys."

"Why?" Morgana demanded to know as she stomped her foot on the floor and placed her hands on her hips. "They're my best friends. We do everything together so why can't they spend the night?"

"Morgana, sweetie, boys are different to girls." Her dad said.

"So?" Morgana huffed dramatically. "Is that really the only problem daddy? I'm a big girl now and I already know what the difference is. Boys have a willy and girls don't."

"How do you know that boys have a willy?" Mr. LeFay asked in complete shock.

"Because that smelly boy Valiant pulled his trousers down in the middle of the playground and shouted 'girls, look at my willy'." Morgana answered. "I don't know what's so impressive about it. I thought it looked silly myself. Silly smelly Valiant with his silly little willy."

After a handful of arguments and tantrums, Mr. LeFay had finally agreed to allow Morgana to have a sleepover so long as Merlin's mum and Arthur's dad said it was ok.

Hunith easily agreed to the sleepover as did Arthur's father Uther. The man even offered to pay the LeFay's to look after his son for the night but they had refused the money.

Since their first sleepover, where neither child got any sleep, their slumber parties had become a regular thing. Sometimes they all stayed over Morgana's house, other times they slept over at Merlin's but they were never allowed to stay at Arthur's.

**Age 9**

Hunith took Merlin, Arthur and Morgana trick-or-treating for Halloween. Morgana was dressed as a fairytale princess, Arthur was dressed up as a knight with a pretend sword and Merlin was dressed as a wizard wearing a large pointed hat that was slightly too big but his large ears prevented it from falling over his eyes.

They roamed the streets for hours collecting chocolate and sweets from their neighbours. Once their goody bags were full and Morgana was complaining that her feet hurt, they headed back to Merlin's house where they were all spending the night.

Hunith allowed them to stay up late eating their treats and telling each other ghost stories. After a sleepless night, the three friends fell asleep around eight o'clock in the morning and slept into the afternoon.

When they woke up, all three of them felt rather ill from eating too many sweets. Arthur was soon leaning over the toilet as his stomach rejected the sweets from the night before. Merlin kneeled behind him rubbing his back comfortingly.

Once Arthur was done being sick, Hunith handed the blonde a glass of water and used a flannel to clean his face up before instructing him to clean his teeth.

A few minutes later, Merlin was retching into the toilet bowl. Arthur rubbed the younger boy's back just as his friend had done for him.

After Hunith cleaned her son up they all looked to Morgana expecting her to be sick.

"I'm ok." She told them as she offered a bright smile. "I never puke up chocolate."

**Age 10**

On Tuesday, school had been the same as it usually was. They had English, Maths and Science as well as studying their class topic on Ancient Greece.

At lunch time, Merlin, Arthur and Morgana had sat together and when Valiant had made fun of Merlin's neck scarf Arthur had flicked peas at him.

But Wednesday was different. After being walked to school by his mum, Merlin had sat down on a bench waiting for his two friends to arrive. As normal Arthur was dropped off in his father's expensive car. He joined Merlin on the bench and they waited patiently for Morgana to arrive but she never turned up.

On Thursday, Morgana still didn't come to school. She didn't turn up on Friday either and neither boy had any idea why.

They were supposed to have a sleepover at Morgana's that weekend but Mrs. LeFay called Hunith and Uther on Friday afternoon to say it had been cancelled.

When Merlin arrived to school on Monday he found Morgana already sat at the bench. He approached her with his trademark smile but she didn't smile back. Her eyes looked red and puffy as if she had been crying.

"What's wrong Gana?" Merlin asked gently as he sat beside her.

The girl didn't reply, she just buried her face into the crook of Merlin's neck and clung to him tightly. A short while later Arthur joined them. Wordlessly, he sat down on Morgana's other side wrapping his arms around her too.

When Morgana regained her composure she quietly told her friends why she hadn't been in school the past week and why she was so upset. Her father had been involved in a terrible car crash.

"Is he ok?" Merlin asked fearing her answer.

"He's dead." Morgana replied and the two boys embraced her again as she began to cry.

**Age 11**

Leaving Ealdor Primary School and moving up to Camelot Secondary School was a daunting experience for Merlin, Arthur and Morgana. Of course, Arthur and Morgana put on a front and easily concealed their worries but Merlin's worry was written clearly on his face.

When he was five years old, Merlin thought Ealdor had looked huge but as he stared up at the building of his new school Ealdor seemed like a shabby hut whilst Camelot was a castle.

One of Merlin's biggest fears was getting lost but all the new students were giving a tour and the dark haired boy soon relaxed upon realising it wasn't as maze-like as he'd first anticipated.

To their delight, Merlin, Arthur and Morgana were in the same tutor group. When they received their timetables they also discovered that they shared most of their lessons together. Though they all had P.E at the same time Morgana wouldn't be with them as boys and girls did different things. On Tuesdays, the girls would be doing gymnastics in the hall whilst the boys played football on the field and on Thursdays, the boys would be in the hall and the girls would be outside playing hockey.

They had English, Maths, I.C.T, History, Geography and R.E together but Merlin didn't have Science with the other two. The three of them had Drama and Art together but they were all in different Dance groups and Arthur had Music with Merlin but Morgana was in another Music class.

All three of them were taking a language course but each was taking a different language. Arthur had French, Merlin had German and Morgana had Spanish.

Despite not having every single lesson together, they still remained the best of friends and sat together every single break and lunch time. They also spent their time together after school helping each other with homework or just hanging out.

However, Mrs. LeFay put a stop to the sleepovers when her daughter started developing a pair of breasts.

**Age 12**

On Valentine's Day, Camelot Secondary School held a school disco and Morgana insisted that they attend.

If the boys had gotten their own way they would have sat down in the corner all night but Morgana dragged them onto the dance floor. She certainly enjoyed herself but both Merlin and Arthur found the whole thing a little awkward.

They didn't mind twirling Morgana about to the fast songs so much but when she forced them all to slow dance together during the love songs both boys found it uncomfortable. It seemed as though Morgana was trying to push her two friends closer together but they kept stepping back making sure Morgana stayed a safe distance between them.

**Age 13**

The three friends were in town together and Morgana had dragged them into a shop called 'Claire's' which was scarily girly for the two teenage boys. Hands in pockets, Merlin and Arthur stuck close together taking great care not to touch any of the pink or sparkly jewellery.

Morgana weaved her way through the shop looking at different bangles, necklaces and earrings before a selection of bracelets caught her eye. There were three simple silver chained bracelets each with a word inscribed on the top. One bracelet said 'BEST' in pink, the second said 'FRIENDS' in purple and the third said 'FOREVER' in blue.

With a smile Morgana bought the three friendship bracelets before leading the boys out of the shop. She took them out of the bag and showed them the bracelets.

"Isn't that a bit girly?" Arthur asked with an arched eyebrow.

"No." Morgana scoffed at him. "Now put yours on."

"Fine but I'm having the one with the blue writing." Arthur said as he picked up the bracelet that said 'FOREVER' and tied it round his wrist.

Morgana fixed the bracelet that said 'BEST' onto her arm before handing Merlin the bracelet saying 'FRIENDS'. With a smile and a thank you he took it from her but struggled to do it up so Arthur had to help him.

"Best friends forever." Morgana stated proudly as she admired each of their bracelet adorned wrists.

"Sure." Arthur grinned.

"I'm never taking it off." Merlin promised.

"Group hug." Morgana ordered holding her arms out and though the two boys rolled their eyes, they stepped in to the required embrace.

A few months later, Arthur's bracelet, the one inscribed with the word 'FOREVER' broke during P.E. A week after that, Morgana's bracelet got caught in her hair and snapped when she pulled it out. Merlin's bracelet got lost in his room somewhere shortly after that.

**Age 14**

Not long after the three best friends lost or broke their friendship bracelets, their friendship began to crumble and fall apart.

Each of them now had new friends.

Merlin still spoke to Morgana occasionally and the girl always smiled at him in the hallways but that was all.

Morgana also spoke to Arthur from time to time and they always worked together in Science but that was the extent of their relationship.

As for Arthur and Merlin, they hadn't said a single word to each other for nearly a year.

Arthur was hanging around with Valiant and his cronies now and he could often be found in the school corridors with his tongue down Princess Vivian's throat.

Morgana had become great friends with a pretty coffee-skinned girl named Guinevere who had transferred from another school. The two girls could often be seen sat together whispering and giggling.

Merlin had made friends with a shy girl named Freya and a loud-mouthed boy named Will.

**Age 15**

Morgana didn't work with Arthur in Science anymore. The two of them worked alone instead. She didn't smile at Merlin in the corridors or stop to say hello to him anymore either.

One lunchtime, Merlin had been sat at a table with Will and Freya when Princess Vivian had walked past deliberately spilling her drink over Freya's dinner.

"Whoops." She giggled. "How clumsy of me."

"Hey Goldilocks." Will snapped. "The three bears called, they told you to fuck the hell off."

"Will leave it." Freya whispered pleadingly but the damage had been done.

"What did you say to my girlfriend?" Arthur demanded to know as he swaggered over to their table with Valiant cracking his knuckles behind him. "You can't speak to her like that you little cum stain."

"I'll say what I want dickhead." Will retorted as he stood up facing the blonde.

"William." Freya hissed tugging on his arm trying to sit him back down.

"William." Valiant mimicked.

"You'd better watch yourself." Arthur warned.

"Or what?" Will challenged.

"Or I'll be introducing my fist to your face." Arthur told him.

"Maybe I'll introduce my fist to yours." Will said before aiming a punch at the blonde but Arthur easily blocked it and held Will's arm behind his back before crushing him face down on the table.

"You'd better watch what you say." Arthur hissed at him whilst Will winced in pain.

"Arthur let him go." Merlin said, his first words to his former best friend in two years.

"Don't tell me what to do you little faggot." Arthur snapped before letting Will go then strutting away with Vivian and Valiant.

Merlin felt as though he was about to cry and he, Will and Freya quickly left the canteen. Once they were outside Will began mouthing off about Arthur, Vivian and Valiant but Merlin wasn't listening.

All he could hear in his over large ears were the cruel words his once best friend had spoken to him, _'you little faggot…faggot…faggot'_.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	3. Partners

**Disclaimer-I don't own Merlin**

**Thanks for Reviewing **

**Chapter 2-Partners **

**Still aged 15**

For as long as he could remember, Merlin had been clumsy and uncoordinated. When they were still in Primary school, Valiant used to tease Merlin about his clumsiness but Arthur had always stuck up for him.

Now, in P.E, Arthur was the one making loud snide comments about Merlin's lack of sporting ability.

Merlin felt his ears burning as he tried unsuccessfully to block out the sound of Arthur and Valiant's taunts. He had always hated football but it was a million times worse with Arthur and Valiant elbowing him in the stomach or kicking him in the shins every time they passed.

"Want me to kick them in the teeth for you mate?" Will asked as he glared at the other boys.

"Honestly Will, it's not worth it." Merlin sighed.

Arthur came running down the field with the football. Another boy attempted to tackle him but Arthur easily made a pass to Valiant who then kicked the ball straight at Merlin hitting him in the side of the face.

"Oops, sorry." Valiant said with a laugh.

"Yeah, you will be sorry." Will retorted before kicking the football as hard as he could in the direction of Valiant and Arthur.

However, Will's aim wasn't great and the ball hit the teacher in the chest. Mr. Mellor blew his whistle before sending Will back to the school to get changed. Merlin made a move to follow him but Mr. Mellor wouldn't let him.

At the sound of the whistle, the game resumed. Because he was so useless, nobody passed Merlin the ball which suited him just fine as he was able to stand slightly off to the side as everyone else ran around.

"Come on Emrys!" Mr. Mellor barked. "Don't just stand there like a frightened little girl. Get involved."

Right then, Merlin wished he had some form of magic so he could make the teacher and everyone else disappear, or maybe just make himself disappear. Of course, Merlin's wishes were never answered.

Tentatively he moved closer to the action. Arthur was tackling the ball off of one of Merlin's team mates and as soon as the blonde had control he kicked it towards Merlin, the ball hitting him between the legs.

Most of the boy's winced in sympathy as they imagined the pain Merlin was going through as he cradled his crotch and sank down onto the muddy field.

For once, Mr. Mellor was merciful and gave Merlin permission to leave the game and head back inside to change.

"Pendragon." He called to Arthur. "Take Emrys to the changing room and you may as well get cleaned up and changed too."

"But sir…" Arthur tried to protest but the P.E teacher's mind was made up.

"You caused his injury so you'll help him back to the building." Mr. Mellor said firmly. "Now go."

Rolling his eyes and sending Merlin a contemptuous look as though everything was his fault, Arthur began heading back to the school with Merlin shuffling along behind him.

They entered the changing rooms where Will was sat already back in his school uniform.

"What happened mate?" Will asked casting the blonde a dirty look.

"I took a football to the groin." Merlin explained as he slowly started to change.

Once he was ready he sat down on the bench beside Will. He looked across the room at Arthur who was currently topless.

"What the fuck are you gawking at you little queer?" Arthur snarled at him.

Merlin flushed and looked away whilst Will glared at the blonde but wisely didn't say anything.

The atmosphere in the changing room was tense and awkward. Merlin made sure to keep his eyes downwards and not make eye contact with Arthur. Will was muttering a string of insults under his breath and Arthur was looking murderous by the time the rest of the boys made their way in.

Even though they were already dressed, Merlin, Arthur and Will were not allowed to leave until everyone else was ready.

When the last boy had finished changing, Mr. Mellor gave them the nod that meant they could move on to their next lesson. On the way out, Arthur barged Merlin into the door roughly and Valiant crushed his foot with his large combat boots.

"Fucking jerks." Will said as he and Merlin made their way out. "One of these days I'm just going to kick their heads in."

They parted ways and headed to their separate classes. Merlin had English and he entered the classroom and dropped down into his seat beside Freya. Morgana was sat at the front with Gwen and Arthur was sat alone at the back.

"Are you ok?" Freya asked. "One side of your face looks red."

"It's nothing." He told her as he took out his pen and workbook.

Throughout the lesson, Arthur kept flicking elastic bands at Merlin whenever the teacher's back was turned. Merlin tried to ignore it but it was quite painful. He didn't understand why Arthur was being so horrid to him. It was true that they weren't friends anymore but Arthur had never bullied him before. The previous school year they'd just ignored one another. Merlin had assumed this year would be the same but it seemed that Arthur had found a new hobby in tormenting him.

Towards the end of the lesson, Miss Read informed them of a new homework assignment which caused the class to groan.

"You will each do a presentation on another member of the class." She told them. "The presentation must include a written essay about the other person that you will read aloud as well as an original poem. I'd also like you to find a song that you feel suits this person and you may play the song for everyone to hear. Does everybody understand?"

The class nodded as they exchanged smiles with the people they wanted to do their piece on.

"Now, it is time to decide your destiny." Miss Read told them dramatically.

"You mean we can't choose our own partners?" Morgana asked obviously disappointed.

"I'm afraid not." Miss Read replied. "I've placed half the class' names into this hat. The other half will come out and select a name. You will do your presentation on the person whose name you pick out and they will do their presentation on you. Dave, you come and pick a name out first."

With a groan Dave stood up and crossed to the teacher's desk. Closing his eyes he dipped his hand into the hat and pulled out a piece of paper and read off the name. Next, Leon was asked to come up and he was paired with Morgana. Freya's name was picked out by a girl named Sophia. The two girls smiled tentatively at one another.

The names carried on and Merlin fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat praying to whatever power was up there that he would not be paired with Arthur.

"Arthur, up you come." Miss Read said beckoning the blonde with a finger.

He strutted up to the front reached his hand in and looked down at the name.

"No way." He said making to pick out another name instead.

"I don't think so mister." Miss Read told him as she pulled the hat out of reach and took the slip of paper off of him. "Merlin, you'll be working with Arthur."

Merlin dropped his head to the desk with a groan wondering what he had done to deserve such a punishment. After the few remaining students selected their partners Miss Read addressed them all again.

"In order to complete this assignment you will have to meet up with your partners so you can learn more about the other." She said. "You have two weeks until I expect you to present to the rest of the class." The bell rang. "Off you go to lunch boys and girls."

The class shoved their things into their bags and headed out the door. As Merlin and Freya walked down the corridor together, Arthur knocked into them which sent Freya crashing to the floor.

"Picking on girls now are you?" Merlin asked scathingly as he helped Freya to her feet.

Turning back, Arthur stalked towards Merlin and pinned him against the wall whilst Freya looked on nervously.

"Speak to me again and I'll kick your head in Emrys." Arthur threatened. "Do you understand that you little fairy?"

"Fairy?" Merlin asked. "I'm not the one who used to try on Morgana's dresses."

Merlin regretted his words as soon as he had said them. A second later he felt Arthur's knuckles colliding with his jaw. He cowered against the wall and Arthur spat at him before walking off.

Pulling out a tissue, Freya helped Merlin wipe Arthur's saliva off his face.

"You should tell one of the teacher's." She urged him.

"No." Merlin replied as he rubbed his aching jaw. "That'll only make things worse. Working with him on this stupid presentation is going to be hell."

"Maybe you could talk to Miss Read." Freya suggested as she looped her arm with Merlin's and they headed to the canteen. "Explain things to her, she might let you switch partners."

"She won't." Merlin sighed. "It doesn't matter anyway. I'm sure I could do a presentation on Arthur without having to spend time with him. He used to be my best friend, I'm sure I know enough about him to do this stupid assignment."

"How could you have ever been best friends with such a prat?" Freya asked.

"He wasn't always a prat." Merlin told her. "Well, ok he was but…he never used to be an asshole. Valiant always was but not Arthur. Arthur used to stick up for me."

"So what changed?" Freya asked.

"I don't know." Merlin admitted as they joined the lunch queue right behind Will.

They sat down to eat together and Merlin kept getting hit in the back of the head by Arthur's peas.

"It used to be Valiant he flicked his peas at." Merlin said quietly.

On the way home, Merlin passed by Arthur passionately kissing Vivian. He quickly looked away before they noticed him and as he did he remembered the time when Morgana had forced him and Arthur to share a kiss under the mistletoe.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	4. We Could Drift Back

**Disclaimer-I still don't own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone**

**Chapter 3-We Could Drift Back **

**Morgana's POV**

After school, Leon offered to walk Morgana home. She accepted and they chatted politely as they walked side by side getting to know one another. By the time they reached Morgana's garden gate the dark haired girl could hardly breathe from laughing so much. It surprised her to discover how funny Leon was. She had always taken him to be a quiet person but once she'd got talking to him she found he opened up like a book and had plenty of interesting things to say.

"You could come in if you like." Morgana told him with a bright smile. "We may as well get started on our English assignments."

"Yeah, sure. I'd like that." Leon replied as he followed her up the path.

Her mum wasn't home yet so the two teenagers had the house to themselves. They sat down on the couch together and asked one another questions and took note of their answers. Once they'd gotten through the basic 'what's your favourite colour?' questions they moved on to deeper subjects.

"Who was your first crush?" Morgana asked holding her pen ready to write down Leon's answer.

"A girl from my old school." He answered. "Her name was Katie McGrath. She looked a bit like you actually."

"Then she must be very beautiful." Morgana said. "How old were you?"

"We were six." Leon told her. "I didn't know how to get her attention and tell her I liked her so I just threw sand in her hair. She slapped me across the face for it."

"I think I'd have liked this Katie girl." Morgana laughed.

"So what about you?" Leon asked. "Who was your first crush?"

"Merlin." Morgana answered.

"Merlin Emrys?" Leon asked in shock and she nodded. "When?"

"Back when I first met him." Morgana replied. "We were five. He just looked so cute with his big ears and sucking his thumb. I got over it pretty quickly though."

The door opened and Mrs. LeFay strolled in complaining about incompetent work colleagues.

"Hi mum. This is my friend Leon." Morgana said. "We're working on an English assignment together."

"An English assignment?" Mrs. LeFay asked with a quirked eyebrow. "Is that what you kids are calling it these days? You know Morgana I think it's time you and I had another one of our talks."

"No mum." Morgana said pleadingly. "Just…just no."

Ignoring her daughter's embarrassment, Mrs. LeFay sat between the two teenagers and placed a hand on each of their knees.

"Now, the act of sex…" She began and both Morgana and Leon shrivelled with embarrassment.

Eventually, the nightmare ended and Leon was quick to collect his things and hurry home.

Heading upstairs, Morgana put on some music then flopped stomach-down onto her bed and flipped idly through the notes she had written on Leon.

Her thoughts then turned to Merlin, probably because she had admitted to Leon that the dark haired boy had been her first crush, and she remembered that he had been partnered with Arthur. It was funny in a way, her two former best friends being forced to work together.

Swinging her legs round onto the floor she moved over to her wardrobe. Kneeling on the floor, she shoved her shoes out of the way looking for an old shoe box that contained a large stack of photographs. Successfully locating it she pulled it out and placed it on the carpet. The lid was covered in dust so she brushed it off with her shirt sleeve. She sneezed before removing the lid.

Luckily, the photos were still in good condition and she started to look through them. Mostly they were of her and the two boys but occasionally her mum, Hunith or her deceased father would appear. However, there wasn't a single photograph of Arthur's father Uther.

As she looked through she came across a photo of just Merlin and Arthur. She had been the one to take the photo. The two boys were sat close together at the base of a tree, the tree that used to stand outside Merlin's house but had been struck down by lightening shortly before the three of them had stopped hanging around together.

Though a smile tugged at her lips as she looked down at the image, a dull ache thudded in her heart. The two of them looked so happy. Neither boy was looking directly at the camera because Morgana had snuck up on them to take it so the photo seemed to have a greater natural feel to it.

It had been taken on a sunny day and the sun's rays bounced off Arthur's hair making it appear golden and Merlin's blue eyes almost appeared gold as he smiled broadly at Arthur. In the photo, Morgana could just make out the friendship bracelets circled around the two boys' wrists.

**The next day, Merlin's POV**

The first lesson of the day was English. As usual, Merlin took his seat beside Freya and they fell in to an easy chatter as the class slowly began to fill.

When Miss Read entered with a massive grin plastered on her heart-shaped face, Merlin felt a sense of dread. Whenever the teacher grinned like that it usually meant Merlin wasn't gong to like whatever was coming.

"Time for a new seating plan boys and girls." Miss Read called out. "For the next two weeks you will sit with your presentation partners. You need to get to know each other in order to complete your assignments so it makes perfect sense. Move around now, chop, chop."

"Suddenly the idea of suicide seems so inviting." Merlin whispered to Freya as he glanced unhappily at Arthur.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad." Freya told him gently as she placed her hand over his. "I'll keep an eye on you."

Merlin smiled at her and the slender girl pressed a comforting kiss to his cheek as she moved to sit with Sophia and Merlin moved to the back to take the empty seat beside Arthur.

"So you've finally got a girlfriend then Emrys?" Arthur asked having witnessed the girl press a kiss to the boy's cheek. "Well it makes sense that you'd date a loser like her since you're such a dork yourself."

"Yesterday you saying I was gay and now you're teasing me about having a girlfriend?" Merlin asked him. "At least make up your mind about the type of insults you're going to throw at me. And dork, really? Is that the most offensive thing you can think of? It seems like you're losing your touch. Or do you need snake-face Valiant and Princess Vivian to think of snide comments for you?"

Arthur blinked in surprise at Merlin's response before sneering at the boy and taking out his work book.

That lesson, Miss Read set them a task of writing to do encouraging them to work with their partners. Most people got on with the task reasonably well and the room quickly filled with friendly chatter. But at the back of the room, Merlin and Arthur worked alone not saying a word to one another.

Feeling eyes on him, Merlin looked up and met Morgana's gaze. She smiled at him fondly and he grinned back before returning his attention to his work.

To Merlin's surprise, Morgana made her way over to his table at lunch time with Gwen walking beside her.

"Can we join you?" Morgana asked.

Merlin's mouth fell open in shock and he looked to Will and Freya. Will shrugged and Freya gave a simple nod.

"Of course." Merlin replied.

Smiling, Morgana sat down beside Merlin and Gwen sat beside her. It was slightly awkward around the table at first but soon enough a conversation began to flow between them.

**Arthur's POV**

During English, Arthur had noticed how Morgana had turned round to smile at Merlin but he hadn't thought anything of it. However, when he saw Morgana approach Merlin then sit with him at lunch he felt annoyed though he wasn't sure why.

The dark haired boy and girl had smiled and laughed with one another just like they used to do. Arthur tried to tell himself that he didn't care if his former best friends were sitting together but the twisting feeling in his stomach disagreed. It bothered him immensely but he didn't want to admit it.

So in order to distract himself Arthur had ditched his barely eaten food, grabbed Vivian's arm then led her outside behind the bike sheds for a heavy make-out session.

As he was kissing the blonde girl, she released one of her trademark giggles and with it a memory triggered in Arthur's mind.

_Arthur, Merlin and Morgana were seven years old. It was break time and Morgana was in the headmaster's office being told off for slipping a worm down the back of Valiant's shirt. Arthur and Merlin were lying on their backs on the field looking up at the sky and making out shapes in the clouds. _

_The other children in their class were running around the playground playing kiss-chase. From where they lazed on the grass they heard princess Vivian giggle after one of their classmates had planted a kiss on her lips._

"_I hate her laugh." Arthur said. "She sounds even sillier than usual. I don't even know why the boys are all trying to kiss her."_

"_Maybe because she's pretty." Merlin suggested._

"_Yuck, she's not pretty." Arthur replied pulling a face of disgust. "She looks like one of Gana's stupid Barbie dolls but without the funny round bits on her chest."_

"_So you wouldn't ever want to kiss Vivian then?" Merlin asked him._

"_Vile Vivian, no way." Arthur cried vehemently. "I wouldn't ever want to kiss any girls, they're all gross."_

"_Would you kiss boys then?" Merlin asked turning his head to the side to face his friend._

"_No." Arthur told him. "The only person I'd ever want to kiss is you. It would never be Vivian."_

Snapping out of the memory, Arthur pulled away from his girlfriend.

"What's wrong?" She asked him giving him a funny look.

"Nothing." He replied before leaning down to kiss her again.

His last lesson of the day was Science. Normally he would work alone on the practical experiments but today Morgana moved over to join him. He raised an eyebrow at her in question but didn't say anything.

They worked together efficiently and in silence until Morgana decided to speak.

"Why did we stop being friends?" She asked him.

"I don't know." Arthur shrugged. "People just drift apart sometimes."

"Well maybe we could drift back." Morgana replied. "Maybe we could hang out at my house this weekend and watch movies. Just you me and Merlin. It'll be fun."

"I can think of far more exciting things to do than hang out with an idiot like Merlin." Arthur told her. "Scratching my bum and picking my nose would be more entertaining."

"Charming." Morgana retorted sarcastically. "Whilst you're scratching your bum you might want to pull your head out of your asshole and grow up."

"Someone's got their panties in a twist." Arthur commented.

"What happened to you?" Morgana asked him. "When did you become such a dickhead?"

"When did you become so annoying?" Arthur asked. "Oh wait, you always were."

"Don't mess with me Arthur Pendragon." Morgana warned as she glared at him fiercely. "I always kicked your ass on computer games and I can kick your ass in real life too."

"You never beat me at computer games." Arthur scoffed.

"Did too." Morgana insisted. "Every single time."

"Did not." Arthur said.

"Did." Morgana replied.

"Didn't." Arthur snapped.

When the lesson finished, Arthur gathered his things and left with Morgana close behind him.

"You know my mum still asks after you." Morgana told him as she fell in to step beside him. "She's always nagging me to have you and Merlin over for dinner. Maybe you could come round today."

"I have better things to do." Arthur replied.

"Like what?" She asked.

"My girlfriend." Arthur smirked.

"Oh please." Morgana laughed with a roll of her eyes. "You don't fool me Arthur. I know full well you're still an innocent little virgin despite whatever rumours circulate this place about your sexual status."

"Whatever." Arthur said before walking away from her.

When he was at the school gates he looked back over his shoulder and spotted Morgana walking alongside Merlin. He frowned at them before heading on home.

Predictably, the house was empty as his father was busy with work. Grabbing himself something to drink, Arthur headed up to his surprisingly tidy bedroom.

He turned on his T.V and flicked to the music channels. He watched it for a while before crossing the room to sit as his desk. He reached for his pen pot and grabbed all the pens and pencils out of it and placed them in the desk. One of the pens rolled off onto the floor and he quickly bent down to retrieve it.

Arthur then took hold of the pen pot and tipped it upside down. With a soft click, the broken bracelet landed on the desk. It was snapped in two, the split coming after the first 'R' in 'FOREVER'. He picked the broken chain up and looked it over wondering why he still kept it.

Upon hearing the phone ring, he quickly shoved the bracelet back into the pen pot.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	5. Hurtful Words

**Disclaimer-I don't own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing**

**Chapter 4-Hurtful Words **

**Merlin's POV**

He had always liked English. He was good at it, he always had been. Ever since he was a young child he had loved to read and write. It was he who had taught Morgana how to read. His intense love for the subject meant that Merlin looked forward to English every school day. At least, he looked forward to it before he had been forced to sit next to Arthur. It was just his luck that something he enjoyed would be ruined in such a way.

Although Arthur never spoke to him during their English lessons it was still unbearably uncomfortable being so close to his once best friend. They were sat side by side yet it felt as though they were sat on different planets. Merlin liked to think he was a regular human sat on Earth and that Arthur was some form of alien from Mars or Jupiter.

The two boys hadn't met up at any point to work on their assignments together, not that Merlin had expected them to. Every one else seemed to be quite enjoying getting to know their partners and work on their presentations but Merlin hated it.

He had already started work on his presentation. He hadn't completed the essay on Arthur yet or found a song to fit the blonde but he'd written the poem. He'd also found out some old photographs of Arthur and he was seriously considering making a poster with them depicting the most embarrassing photos. Though the idea was highly tempting, Merlin wasn't sure if he would do it or not, it wasn't really in him to be that mean.

As he scrawled another sentence to his work he peered at Arthur out of the corner of his eye wondering if the other boy had started work on his presentation yet.

"Stop checking me out Emrys." Arthur hissed at him so no-one else would hear. "I know I'm hot but I'm not a fucking homo so just keep your sick gay thoughts to yourself."

"Don't flatter yourself." Merlin retorted. "I have much better taste than the likes of you."

"So you admit you're gay then." Arthur retaliated smugly and Merlin flushed as he realised his mistake.

He turned away from Arthur and pretended to read over his work. Merlin had long since realised his sexual preference. When he was thirteen he had had a long conversation with Morgana and she had helped him come to terms with his sexuality. She had even been there to hold his hand when Merlin told his mum. Of course, Hunith had been more than understanding and hugged her boy tight assuring him that she was still proud of him and she loved him no matter what.

Morgana had urged Merlin to confide in Arthur about his homosexuality but Merlin had never been able to work up the courage and he had sworn Morgana to secrecy. Aside from Morgana and his mum, the only people who knew the truth about Merlin was his uncle Gaius, Will, Freya and an ex-boyfriend named Lancelot.

Lancelot was tall, dark and devastatingly handsome. The two had met at a book fair when Merlin was fourteen and they'd immediately hit it off. However, Lancelot had been seventeen at the time so Merlin had lied about his age saying he was sixteen. Lancelot had believed him and the two had enjoyed almost two months together before the older boy learned the truth. He wasn't angry that Merlin had deceived him but he was upset and he'd gently explained to Merlin that it wasn't right for them to see each other because of Merlin's age. So the two had split up and Merlin had not seen the older boy since.

"I knew you were a faggot." Arthur whispered into Merlin's ear disrupting the dark haired boy's memories of Lancelot. "I bet you're a dirty little manwhore and spend your free time on your knees sucking cock. You know what Emrys, you really make me sick."

Unable to listen to another word, Merlin grabbed his stuff and stormed out of the classroom. All eyes then turned to Arthur who tried to look innocent.

**Arthur's POV**

After Merlin had fled the room everybody turned to stare at Arthur. That Freya girl looked at him as if he was an ugly squashed slug before leaning in to whisper something to Sophia.

Then there was Morgana who was glaring at him with such force Arthur was surprised the look didn't kill him. He shifted in his seat feeling uncomfortable under her heated glare. Picking up his pen he continued with his work trying to act nonchalant.

Yet as he worked, something was rippling through his bloodstream making him feel uneasy. It took a few moments for the blonde to identify the feeling as guilt.

He swallowed and shook his head as if to get rid of the feeling but it didn't help. He tried to convince himself that he had no reason to feel guilty but he knew full well that his behaviour towards Merlin was disgusting and uncalled for.

The other boy had done nothing to provoke such a harsh verbal attack but Arthur had deliberately tried to hurt the boy anyway and it seemed he was successful. Usually, when Arthur succeeded in something he felt a swell of pride and accomplishment but not this time. By hurting Merlin he just felt like a complete ass.

He didn't care if Merlin was gay, not really, and he didn't hate Merlin. He could never hate Merlin. It was the way Merlin made him feel that he hated. No, not hated…feared. As crazy as it sounded, Arthur Pendragon was scared.

**Morgana's POV**

Ever since she had known him, Merlin had always worn his heart on his sleeves. It was easy to tell what he was thinking or feeling. For the most part, Merlin was happy and his blue eyes would twinkle like stars and he's smile like a cheshire cat. When he was lying or trying to hide something his eyes looked bigger and his fingers would twitch. When confused the boy would furrow his brow and on the rare occasions he got angry his hands would ball into fists and his mouth would become a thin line as his eyes narrowed and turned a shade darker.

The one thing Morgana had always had trouble with detecting was when Merlin was upset. For when he was sad he tried not to let it show and would present his friends with his sparkly eyes and wide smile. Sometimes Merlin would be so convincing nobody would be able to tell that something was wrong but there were a few times when his mask faltered and Morgana had suspected he wasn't as happy as he seemed. But never had Morgana seen Merlin in the state he had been when he left the classroom.

He had looked as though somebody had murdered every person he cared about and dangled their lifeless corpses in front of him. The boy was more than likely on his way to the nearest toilet stall to cry in private. So as Morgana turned in her seat to glare at Arthur, she knew the blonde must have said something really cruel to have such an affect on Merlin.

Growing up, Arthur had been a little bit harder to learn to read but Morgana probably understood him better than anyone. She could tell by the way Arthur's shoulders sagged that he wasn't feeling smug or pleased with himself. The guilt was detectable in his blue eyes and the way he shifted his head so that his blonde strands fell across part of his face suggested he was trying to hide his shame.

Of course, Arthur would not go and apologise to Merlin when the lesson ended. He'd paint on a smirk and strut through the corridors before bragging to Valiant and Vivian that he had upset Merlin Emrys so much the boy had ran out of the classroom.

**Freya's POV**

She had been watching Merlin and Arthur closely throughout the lesson. She had noticed how Merlin had flushed after Arthur whispered something to him. Then the blonde had leaned forwards with a cruel look in his eye. She hadn't been able to hear what he was saying but she could tell from Merlin's expression that the words were not pleasant.

Her friend's hand had started to tremble slightly and she began to feel nervous. Arthur's lips kept moving as he whispered nasty things into Merlin's ear and Freya feared Merlin might lash out and punch the blonde boy.

To her slight relief, Merlin didn't respond with violence which was a good thing. Not only would he get into trouble but he would have been seriously hurt. Although Merlin was stronger than he looked he was certainly no match for Arthur. Merlin had simply darted out of the room looking angry and upset.

Freya felt as though she should go after him but she knew Merlin liked to be alone at times like this. He never liked other people seeing him cry and Freya strongly suspected he would burst into tears as soon as he was out of view of everybody.

After sending a disgusted look in Arthur's direction she leaned across her desk to whisper to Sophia.

"He's so horrible." She said. "How can he treat people like that? Merlin's never done anything to him. They used to be best friends."

"Arthur's just a bully." Sophia told her. "Merlin should just ignore him. He isn't worth getting upset over."

Turning back to her work Freya began to think about what the red haired girl had just said. It wasn't often that Merlin got upset. He usually laughed it off when people threw insults at him. But Arthur's words seemed to get to the other boy.

Valiant and other people had called Merlin thousands of different names and he'd never batted an eyelid but when Arthur insulted him he looked as though he'd been punched in the stomach.

Was it because the two used to be friends that Arthur's words upset Merlin so much? Or was it something else?

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	6. Loser

**Disclaimer-I don't own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing**

**Chapter 5-Loser **

**Morgana's POV**

One week had past since they had been given their English assignment. Morgana's presentation on Leon was coming along nicely and she was quite enjoying her time spent with the boy. She and Gwen had also taken to sitting with Merlin, Will and Freya at lunchtime. Morgana desperately wanted to talk about Arthur but every time she mentioned the young Pendragon, Merlin would either change the subject or make a hasty excuse to leave.

In Science class, Morgana invited herself to sit beside Arthur and work with him just as they used to. Whenever she mentioned Merlin, Arthur's shoulders would tense up. Most of the time he'd simply insult Merlin until Morgana crushed his foot with her heel. Other times he'd pretend he hadn't heard what she had said and he'd bore her with talk of Vivian.

"Why do you date her?" Morgana asked during one of their theory lessons.

"I'm gorgeous, she's gorgeous." Arthur answered. "It works."

"But she's ridiculous." Morgana replied. "She has the intelligence of a dead goldfish."

"Well we can't all be blessed with brains and beauty." He told her. "What's it to you who I date anyway? Don't tell me you're jealous."

"As if." Morgana scoffed. "You might have good looks Arthur but that's about it. Besides, I'm way too good for you."

"Yet you're single." Arthur pointed out.

"That's because I choose to be." Morgana countered. "I don't need a boyfriend to make me happy, I'm perfect the way I am. Now what about Valiant, why on earth do you hang around with him?"

"We get on, he's a good laugh." Arthur told her with a shrug.

"He's a moron." Morgana replied as she leaned across to copy the blonde's work. "Remember when the three of us used to hate him? You, me and Merlin."

"Why do you have to bring up that faggot's name in every conversation?" Arthur asked her with a snarl. "Get it through that pretty head of yours Gana; I don't give a shit about Emrys. We're not friends anymore. Get over it."

"You don't fool me Arthur." Morgana told him. "You can lie to yourself and everyone else as much as you like but that won't make the truth just disappear."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He grumbled.

"Oh I'm sorry, is it harder to understand a conversation from deep inside a closet?" She asked teasingly.

Arthur turned to glare at her suddenly looking the spitting image of his father.

"I'm not gay." He hissed at her darkly.

"Keep telling yourself that princess." Morgana replied as her red-glossed lips formed into a devilish smirk.

**Arthur's POV**

An angry growl ripped from Arthur's throat and he snapped his pen in his hands causing the ink to leak all over his hands.

"What's going on over there?" Their Science teacher Mr. Wilson asked. "Arthur, go and wash your hands my boy."

Hands held out before him Arthur left the lab and headed to the boy's toilets. He kicked it open with his foot then used his elbow to turn on the tap as he washed his hands at the sink.

He heard the sound of a chain being flushed and one of the doors to the toilet stalls opened. As luck would have it, Merlin stepped out. The dark haired boy froze as he spotted the blonde and Arthur made eye contact with him by means of the mirror.

"What are you looking at you filthy queer?" Arthur spat.

Merlin flinched slightly and dropped his gaze before heading to the sink furthest from Arthur to wash his hands. He made quick work of it before drying his hands on his school trousers then exiting the toilet.

Still washing his hands, Arthur watched the boy go.

"Filthy queer." He repeated though as he said it he didn't look at Merlin's retreating back but at his own reflection.

**Merlin's POV**

He strode back to his science lesson and sat down with Will. His friend immediately noticed that Merlin was annoyed. In a whisper he asked what was wrong and Merlin simply mouthed the word 'Arthur'.

"That dick." Will swore as he chewed on the end of his pen. "Someone needs to kick his ass."

Merlin just grunted in response before crinkling his brow in confusion at the scientific equations before him. He would have copied off of Will but his brunette friend wasn't doing much better.

The remainder of the lesson seemed to drag on and by the time the bell rang Merlin was surprised to find he was still fifteen years old for it felt as though he should be an old man with a long white beard.

"Why is it that the lessons I hate always feel longer than the ones I like?" Merlin asked as he and Will made their way to the canteen.

"Dunno mate." Will shrugged as he scratched the bottom of his chin. "It's just time playing a cruel trick on us. Oh, look who it is." He added in a whisper as they came across Arthur coming out of one of the labs.

Morgana appeared behind the blonde and smiled at Merlin and Will before joining them. Together the three continued on their way. They joined Freya and Gwen in the lunch queue and after collecting his lunch, Merlin made his way across the hall to join them at their usual table only for Arthur to stick his foot out causing him to trip and smash his face in the mash potato.

Predictably, the canteen filled with the sound of laughter and applause. With a groan, Merlin pushed himself onto his knees and Gwen handed him her hanky to wipe his face with.

"Hey homo, you want some sausage to go with that?" Valiant asked before throwing a half-eaten sausage at the boy. "Bet you like to suck on that don't you Emrys."

"Why don't you go home and fuck your mum?" Will asked as he squared up to the taller boy. "After all, you've got a face only a mother could love."

"Will leave it." Freya said as she pulled him away from Valiant.

"Are you a cock-sucker too William?" Valiant asked as he stepped closer to Will and Freya as Gwen helped Merlin to his feet. "I bet you are."

"Fuck off Valiant." Will retorted.

Valiant sniggered at him before making to punch him but Morgana stepped in forcing his arm back. She then raised her knee and Valiant crashed to the floor amidst gales of laughter.

"Come on." Morgana said before leading the way to their table.

"Thanks Gana." Merlin told her as he sat beside her sharing her tray of food.

"That's what friends are for." She replied as she gave his hand a squeeze and she was rewarded by a brilliant smile.

**Arthur's POV**

He left Valiant curled up on the floor and sat down with Vivian. Looking across the room he saw and heard the exchange between Morgana and Merlin. The smile that lit up Merlin's face was one he hadn't seen in a long time. He suddenly realised how much he had missed it, how much he missed him.

The sound of Vivian crunching on carrot sticks met his ears and he turned to face her. She gave him a toothy grin and he cringed at the orange strips stuck between her teeth.

"You should totally come round my place tonight." Vivian squealed. "Mummy and daddy will be out all evening so I'll have the place to myself and you wouldn't want your princess Vivian to be all on her own now would you? I need my Arthur to take care of me."

"I already have plans." Arthur lied causing the blonde girl to pout.

"So cancel them." Vivian replied as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I'm more important than anything else you have going on."

"More annoying." Arthur said under his breath.

"What was that?" Vivian asked.

"Nothing babe." Arthur answered her.

"Good. So, what time will you be round?" She asked.

"I've already told you, I have plans." Arthur replied before standing up and leaving the canteen.

"Arthur." She called after him. "Arthur. ARTHUR!" She screeched causing the rest of the students to cover their ears.

He made his way outside and walked around the school building kicking stones in front of him. Eventually he came to a bench wear some younger students were sitting. After scaring them away he dropped his bag onto the bench then sat down beside it. As he stared at the patterns in the wood his mind took him back to when he was ten years old.

_Hunith had taken Merlin, Arthur and Morgana to the woods so they could feed the ducks at the lake. Merlin was stood furthest away from the water because the ducks scared him a little. Morgana was fearless and was right by the lake edge, the water skimming her sandals. Whilst the others were breaking off bits of bread to throw to the ducks Arthur was eating the bread himself and only throwing the crusts. _

_After the loaf of bread was gone they took a walk through the trees together. They came across an old oak tree that looked perfect for climbing and Arthur begged Hunith for permission to climb it. He and Merlin teamed up to give the woman their best puppy-dog eyes and she eventually caved._

_As Morgana was wearing a dress she chose to stay safely on the ground with Hunith and watch the boys climb. _

_Placing his hands together, Arthur gave Merlin a boost so he could reach the first branch and start his climb. With ease, Arthur swung up to join him and was soon half way up the tree whilst Merlin was in the same place Arthur had left him._

"_Come on Merlin." Arthur called down to him._

"_I can't do it." Merlin replied._

"_Of course you can." Morgana said encouragingly. "Just do what Arthur did."_

"_It's too high." Merlin sighed._

_Arthur carefully climbed back down to his friend before guiding him up the tree trunk until they both reached the top._

"_See." Arthur told him. "You can do it."_

"_Only because I had you helping me." Merlin smiled. "I feel like I can do anything if I have you by my side."_

"_Me too." Arthur told him. "And we'll always be together. You're my boy."_

_Merlin smiled brilliantly before they climbed back down to join Morgana and Hunith._

When he snapped out of the memory he looked up to find Freya stood before him. He cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow in question. She looked to the bench as though to sit beside him before thinking better of it and staying on her feet.

"What do you want?" Arthur asked her in a bored tone.

"I want you to leave Merlin alone." Freya replied.

The blonde almost laughed at her. It was understandable that she was protective of her friend but Freya was hardly threatening. She looked so wispy and frail and her voice was so soft and gentle. She looked as though a gentle breeze could snap her in two. Now if Morgana had said those same words to him Arthur would have been intimidated but Freya was just too nice to ever be remotely scary.

"He's never done anything to hurt you." Freya told him as she fiddled with the strands of her hair nervously. "Why do you have to be so mean all the time?"

"Go back to your friends you loser." Arthur replied.

"Ok I will." Freya said. "Because I actually have friends, proper friends. Friends that would do anything for me. You used to have that too, with Merlin and Morgana, but you threw it away. Now all you have is Valiant and Vivian. From where I'm standing, it looks like you're the loser, not me."

With that said she turned away and walked off.

***

After school, Arthur decided to take a walk. He followed his feet and somehow ended up stood outside Merlin's house. Taking a deep breath he walked up the garden path and knocked on the door but by the time Merlin came to answer it, Arthur had lost his nerve and was running down the street as fast as he could.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	7. A Talk with Miss Read

**Disclaimer-I do not own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing :D**

**Chapter 6-A Talk with Miss Read **

**Merlin's POV**

He didn't like History. The subject bored him immensely and there was no-one for him to talk to. He sat alone at the back with his pen in his hand struggling to stay focused. Merlin didn't even see the point in History. It was all in the past, it was over, who on earth cared. So a fat king named Henry VIII had six wives, what was so exciting about that?

Normally, this lesson moved at a snail pace but today it was flying by at a rapid speed. Under normal circumstances Merlin would have been pleased but of course, straight after History he had English which meant an hour sat beside Arthur Pendragon.

A full hour, sixty minutes. That was a ridiculously long time to sit beside someone who hated your guts for no apparent reason.

The feeling of dread was beginning to make itself known within Merlin's stomach and all too soon the bell signalling next lesson rang. His expression morphed into an angry glare as he grabbed his things and walked as slowly to his English class as possible without being too late.

When he arrived, the rest of the class was already there sat beside their partners chatting away. Arthur was seated in his usual space at the book shooting dirty looks at Merlin as he approached their table. Without a word, Merlin dropped into the seat and looked to the clock dismayed to find his slow walk to the lesson had only wasted three and a half minutes. Perhaps he would ask Miss Read if he could use the toilet and waste some of the lesson time that way.

Standing at the front, Miss Read called out their names as she took the register. She then told them that they would be using this lesson time to work on their presentations.

A few minutes later, Miss Read appeared in front of the two boys asking them why they didn't have any work out.

"Has either of you even started this work assignment?" She asked sounding annoyed.

"I've written the poem." Merlin answered with a shrug.

"You're such a girl." Arthur sneered.

"Arthur." Miss Read reprimanded as she shot him a stern look. "The two of you need to make a proper start on this. That means you need to work together. You'll stay in here during lunchtime as well."

"What?" Arthur complained. "That's not fair."

"Tough." Miss Read replied with a grin. "Now get to work boys."

"Bitch." Arthur said under his breath as she moved on to another pair.

With a sigh, Merlin took out a fresh piece of paper and wrote the name Arthur Pendragon at the top. Somewhat reluctantly, Arthur pulled a sheet of paper towards him and wrote Merlin Emrys at the top. After that, both boys stared blankly at the paper for a good five minutes before Merlin wrote a single sentence.

_Arthur Pendragon is a prat._

The blonde peered across at what the other boy had written before angrily scrawling a sentence about Merlin.

_**Merlin Emrys is an idiot.**_

Reading what the blonde had written Merlin simply rolled his eyes and placed his pen down before folding his arms across his chest and slouching down in his chair.

Beside him, Arthur doodled absentmindedly on another piece of paper.

"Merlin. Arthur." Miss Read called from where she was stood giving help to Gwen and her partner Gary. "If you two don't get some work done I'll keep you behind after school as well as lunchtime."

In sync with each other, Merlin and Arthur glared at their teacher, sat up straighter before making a big show of placing the tips of their pens to the paper and writing another sentence.

_He may seem like your regular arrogant jerk but really he's just a scared little boy who continually fails to make his father proud._ Merlin scribbled down.

_**The little cock-sucking fag makes me sick to my stomach, I hate him. **_Arthur wrote.

Merlin could feel Arthur looking to see what he had written but he didn't care. He saw what the blonde had written about him and though it hurt to read such harsh words he didn't let it show.

When the lesson ended and the bell rang signalling lunch, the rest of the class filed out but the two boys stayed seated.

Once the last student had left, Miss Read weaved her way over to the boys. She quickly read what each had written about the other and frowned at them both though more particularly at Arthur.

"Is it really necessary for you to be so cruel to each other?" She asked them rhetorically. "What happened with you two? I remember when the two of you used to be best friends. The Merlin and Arthur that joined this school at age eleven would never have written such harsh things about one another."

"Things change." Merlin said bitterly.

Miss Read looked between her two students. Both boys avoided making eye contact with her. However she did note that Merlin's eyes occasionally swept to Arthur but the blonde was determinedly looking anywhere but at the boy beside him.

"You may go Merlin." Miss Read told him gently as she pulled up a chair from the desk in front and sat opposite Arthur. "I need to have a private talk with Mr. Pendragon."

Eager to escape the uncomfortable atmosphere that shrouded the classroom, Merlin grabbed hold of his stuff and left.

**Arthur's POV**

Arthur had never been forced to have a 'private talk' with a teacher before but he highly doubted it would be enjoyable. For a while Miss Read stayed silent and just surveyed him from across the desk. He squirmed under her gaze hating the way her eyes seemed to glint knowingly as though she could see through his façade to what he was really thinking and feeling on the inside.

"What do you want?" Arthur asked in irritation when the silence became unbearable.

"You know when I was younger, my best friends were boys." She told him.

"So?" He retorted with an expression that clearly said I-don't-care.

"So, I don't want what happened to them to happen to you and Merlin." Miss Read continued.

"There is no me and Merlin." Arthur replied. "Emrys is an idiot. I don't like him and I don't want anything to do with him."

Ignoring her pupil's statement, Miss Read picked up his sheet of paper and read over what he'd written again.

"My friends' names were Colin and Bradley." Miss Read informed him. "The three of us were best friends from our first day at school."

"How fascinating." Arthur drawled sarcastically.

"We were about your age when things started to fall apart." Miss Read continued as though Arthur hadn't spoken. "Things seemed fine then one day Bradley just stopped speaking to us. Colin and I had no idea why."

"Maybe because he realised you were a pair of losers." Arthur spoke up.

"Stop interrupting." Miss Read scolded as she reached a hand across to ruffle Arthur's hair causing him to scowl. "I was confused. I didn't understand why Bradley changed so dramatically. He always used to be such a sensitive boy and he'd always stick up for Colin and I. Then he started hanging around with the tough guys. He became a bully. Do you know who he tormented worse than anyone else?"

"Colin." Arthur answered and she nodded.

"And I think you know why Bradley bullied Colin…don't you Arthur?" She asked him. "It's the same reason why you're bullying Merlin now."

Arthur shifted uncomfortably and lowered his eyes to the desk.

"What happened to them?" Arthur asked quietly.

Miss Read took a deep breath and looked away for a moment obviously distressed by the memory. When she composed herself she gently answered her student's question.

"It got to the point where Colin couldn't take it anymore." Miss Read explained. "He committed suicide. Bradley's bullying was just too much."

"So he took his life?" Arthur asked in shock horror.

"I think…I think Colin had always been in love with Bradley." Miss Read told the blonde teen. "Even when we were little kids. He wasn't afraid of his feelings and he wasn't ashamed to be different. But Bradley was scared. He couldn't accept the truth about himself so he took out his self-loathing on Colin, his former best friend, the boy who loved him and the boy he secretly loved back."

"What…what happened to Bradley?" Arthur questioned.

"He fell into a state of depression." Miss Read answered. "His grades started to slip. Eventually he stopped coming to school altogether. He turned to drink and drugs. Last I heard he was sent to prison for drug dealing."

"I'm sorry." Arthur told her truly meaning it.

Miss Read offered him a sad smile before reading what he'd written aloud.

"Merlin Emrys is an idiot. The little cock-sucking fag makes me sick to my stomach, I hate him." After finishing she looked up at him. "Is that really what you think of him?"

Feeling a lump in his throat Arthur shook his head as he tried to force the lump down.

"No." He croaked. "If anything that's what I think about myself."

"There's nothing wrong with falling in love with your best friend Arthur." Miss Read told him as she squeezed his shoulder gently.

"Try telling that to my father." Arthur replied. "If he knew the truth about me he'd hate me even more than he already does."

"Your father does not hate you Arthur." Miss Read said.

"Maybe not hate." Arthur sighed. "But he certainly doesn't love me either. He doesn't care about me. He's never cared about me. Nothing I do is good enough for him. I'm just a disappointment. A worthless gay disappointment."

"That isn't true." Miss Read told him firmly. "Now, why don't you talk to Merlin? The two of you could meet up after school and work on your assignment."

Arthur just shrugged. He highly doubted Merlin would want to be anywhere near him. Not that he could blame the dark haired teen.

"Can I go now?" He asked and Miss Read nodded.

**Freya's POV**

As Merlin sat with them at lunch he let out a loud sigh before launching into a complaint about Arthur. Will joined in clearly enjoying the opportunity to insult the blonde. Even Gwen had a thing or two to say.

At first, Freya thought Morgana was going to defend Arthur but then she closed her mouth deciding not to comment.

Morgana, Gwen and Will finished their lunch before Merlin and Freya so the three of them headed outside together.

"I'm sure he doesn't mean it you know." Freya said gently as she watched Merlin poke and prod at his meal. "About hating you that is."

"Freya, he wrote it down in perfectly legible handwriting." Merlin answered. "I disgust him. He hates me. But it's not like I care. I hate the prat right back."

"No you don't." Freya told him as she nibbled a strawberry. "I see how much it hurts you every time he says something nasty. If you really didn't care you wouldn't be bothered. I can tell how you really feel about him. You lo-"

"Don't say it." Merlin interjected cutting the slim girl off. "Please Freya, just…just don't say it. It's easier to pretend I hate him…less painful."

With a sympathetic smile Freya nodded in understanding before dropping the subject. Merlin was finishing off his slice of pizza when Arthur strode into the canteen. Freya watched as the blonde turned his head and looked over at Merlin with a pained expression. However, Merlin's back was to Arthur so he completely missed the look but Freya saw it plain and clear.

Upon seeing the confused look on his friend's face, Merlin asked Freya what was wrong.

"You look just how Will looks every time someone asks him a maths question." He told her.

"Nothing." Freya replied with a reassuring smile.

She looked across the room to wear Arthur was now sitting with Vivian talking non-stop in his ear but it didn't look as though he was listening to her. He was chewing on his food with little enthusiasm looking deeply troubled.

"If Arthur walked up to you right now and apologised for…everything…would you forgive him?" Freya asked.

"In a heart beat." Merlin confessed. "But who am I kidding? Arthur will never apologise. I doubt he even knows how to, especially to a little queer like me."

"Don't talk about yourself that way." Freya told him.

"Well I'm finished." He replied. "Are you done? I could really use some fresh air."

Nodding, Freya hooked her bag onto her shoulder and the two made their way out of the canteen. As they reached the doors, Freya looked back over her shoulder to find Arthur's gaze on Merlin.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	8. Unheard Scream

**Disclaimer-I still don't own Merlin, it's so unfair**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone**

**I plan for the English presentations to take place either next chapter or the chapter after. If anyone has any ideas what songs Arthur and Merlin could play for each other I'd love to hear them, I have some ideas of my own but I'd like to know what you think.**

**Chapter 7-Unheard Scream **

**Lancelot's POV**

He was being stupid. He shouldn't be here. He should just put his helmet on, get back on his motorbike and drive away. However, the tall, dark and handsome Lancelot did not show any signs of leaving. With his helmet in hand, the eighteen year old simply continued to pace in front of Merlin's garden gate.

The lights in the house were all out so Lancelot assumed Hunith was still at work and Merlin wasn't home from school yet.

Pushing the gate open, Lancelot made his way up the path and hovered by the door. He brushed his chin-length hair out of his eyes before leaning against the brick of the house. Checking his watch, he predicted that Merlin would be here in about ten minutes.

He knew that everything about his relationship with Merlin was wrong. The boy was underage for Dumbledore's sake. Three years wasn't much to a couple who were in their twenties but with an eighteen and fifteen year old three years was too big of an age difference. Whilst Lancelot was classed as an adult Merlin was still only a minor. If anything sexual were to happen between the two it would be considered rape in eyes of the law regardless as to whether Merlin was willing or not.

Despite knowing that it was wrong and that he should stay away, Lancelot found himself on Merlin Emrys' doorstep waiting for the teen to return home. There was something so captivating about Merlin; he couldn't stop thinking about him. He missed his big blue eyes, his happy smile, those ridiculous yet lovable ears and that magnificent pert little bum. Everything about Merlin was so innocently beautiful.

Lancelot just needed to see Merlin again that was all. They didn't have to have a relationship, they couldn't, at least not until Merlin was eighteen himself. For now, all Lancelot needed was to be near the younger teen.

When he finally spotted the pale dark-haired youth walking up the street, Lancelot's heart skipped a beat. If it was possible, Merlin had become more gorgeous than before. Oh why did the gods have to torture him so? It was completely unfair to dangle Merlin in front of him when he couldn't have him.

"Lancelot?" Merlin asked in surprise as he found his ex-boyfriend stood on his doorstep.

"Hello Merlin." Lancelot breathed and ignoring the voices in his head that told him it was wrong, he pulled the younger boy towards him and kissed him as passionately as he knew how.

**Arthur's POV**

After school, he had decided to take Miss Read's advice. He'd find Merlin, talk to the boy and maybe they'd work on their assignment together. It was the perfect opportunity to get their friendship back on track and for Arthur to apologise for being so horrid.

Of course, when the last lesson of the day ended, Merlin was surrounded by Morgana, Will, Freya, Gwen and Leon. There was no way Arthur could talk to the other boy with all of them hanging around. There was also the slight fear Arthur had that Merlin might reject his apology and the blonde couldn't take that kind of humiliation in public. If Merlin chose to scorn him in private then he would deal with it but not in front of everyone.

He'd simply walk a safe distance behind Merlin and follow the boy home. He'd knock on his door and assuming that Merlin didn't slam the door in his face the moment he saw him, Arthur would talk to the boy civilly. Then if all went well they could get their English assignments done and be friends again before the morning.

Maybe they could even be more. Though in truth, Arthur was not ready to come out of the closet yet. Not because he was scared or ashamed, it just happened to be a nicely decorated closet and he wanted to enjoy it for a while longer. Oh who was he kidding, he was downright terrified of coming out, particularly to his father.

However, an unforeseeable problem soon presented itself. As Arthur discreetly followed Merlin onto his street and up to his house, the blonde spotted an older guy waiting at Merlin's door. Not wanting to be seen, Arthur ducked behind a bush in the garden next to Merlin's and peeked through the branches to watch the interaction between the other two.

The mystery guy was good-looking, ridiculously good-looking, movie star good-looking. At the mere sight of the older teen, Arthur became jealous. He had no idea who the guy was but upon sight he decided he didn't like him. Then as the mystery guy grabbed a fistful of Merlin's shirt and crushed their lips together in a heated kiss, Arthur decided he hated this handsome stranger.

_Arthur was seven years old. He, Morgana and Merlin were playing in the local park and Mr. LeFay was sat on a bench watching over them. Morgana was by the swings gently pushing a younger boy named Mordred whilst Merlin and Arthur were playing on the see-saw. _

_A little while later, Morgana took the four-year-old Mordred's hand and led him over to the bench her father was sat at beside the little boy's mother._

"_Daddy." Arthur and Merlin heard Morgana say. "I want Mordred to be my baby brother. Can we take him home?"_

_The two adults had chuckled softly in response. Mr. LeFay then had to explain to his daughter that she couldn't just take Mordred home and make him her brother because she wanted to. Upon learning that she couldn't keep Mordred, Morgana had thrown herself down on the ground kicking her arms and legs about as she screamed in outrage. Mordred soon imitated the older girl and the two threw a spectacular tantrum._

_As Mr. LeFay and Mordred's mother tried to calm their children down, Arthur and Merlin moved away from the see-saw and over to the sand-box. A little girl dressed in an angel outfit had timidly came over to them and sat beside Merlin. She shyly took the boy's hand in his before pressing a kiss to his cheek._

"_I think we should get married." The little girl said._

"_Go away!" Arthur snapped as he took Merlin's other hand and pulled the dark haired boy to him. "He doesn't want to marry you smelly-head."_

_Hand still clutching tightly to his friend's, Arthur had led Merlin away from the girl to the space beneath the large slide. They sat down together and the blonde draped an arm across Merlin's shoulders almost possessively. _

"_You're my boy Merlin." Arthur told him. "Nobody can take you away from me."_

Focusing back on the present, Arthur was hit with the harsh reality of another guy shoving his tongue deep down Merlin's throat. It seemed that somebody _had_ taken his boy away from him.

The two boy's broke apart and a dazed but grinning Merlin opened the door inviting the other dark-haired boy inside.

As the door slammed shut, Arthur felt as though someone was stabbing him in the heart with a rusty knife. Turning round he walked away heading back home. He then took the stairs two at a time before collapsing onto his bed in his room. Reaching to his nightstand, he grabbed the T.V remote and flicked to a music channel. He then turned the volume up as high as it could go before biting down onto his pillow letting out a scream that went unheard.

Arthur then turned the T.V off and moved to sit at his desk. Pulling a pen and a piece of paper towards him he began writing his essay about Merlin.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	9. English Presentations

**Disclaimer-I do not own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing, and thank you to those who suggested songs but I ended up using the songs I first thought of**

**Oh and the two poems featured are both written by me**

**Chapter 8-English Presentations **

**Morgana's POV**

The next day at school, Arthur didn't show up. The weekend passed by and on Monday morning Arthur still wasn't present. Something was clearly up, Morgana was sure of it. Arthur was never ill so she was sure that wasn't his reason for being absent. He wasn't the type to ditch school either, at least not without reason.

She had tried asking Vivian about the boy's whereabouts but the blonde girl had simply asked if her fake tan looked too orange. Morgana had then momentarily shelved her pride and flirted with Valiant in hopes of him being able to give her information about Arthur's whereabouts. However, Valiant only drooled as he looked down Morgana's school blouse.

"Something's up Gwen." Morgana told her friend during maths class. "Arthur hasn't been in all week."

"Maybe he's ill." Gwen replied with a shrug. "Why do you care anyway? It isn't really your business. I mean, it's Arthur."

"I'm telling you something's happened." Morgana insisted. "I'm going round his house tonight. I have to find out why he's hiding and what it is he's hiding from."

"Shouldn't you just be thankful that he's not here?" Gwen asked. "Merlin seems a lot happier this week without Arthur bullying him."

"Merlin." Morgana exclaimed. "Of course, it must be something to do with Merlin. That's one of the only things Arthur ever gets truly affected by. We'll interrogate Merlin at lunch."

"Interrogate?" Gwen asked doubtfully. "That's not really something I'm good at."

"Right well, I'll do the talking." Morgana said. "You just stand by my side and look stern."

"I can't even do that." Gwen told her.

"Then stand there and smile." Morgana replied. "It'll be like a good-cop, bad-cop thing. I'll get the truth out of him."

"What if Merlin doesn't know anything?" Gwen asked. "What if there isn't anything to know? Maybe Arthur is just sick or something."

"He doesn't get sick." Morgana answered. "Trust me, whatever is going on, Merlin has something to do with it."

**Merlin's POV**

At lunch, Merlin was sat beside Freya and Will calmly eating his banana when Morgana made her way over with Gwen in tow. The two girls had been sitting with them for a while now so it wasn't unusual. However, Merlin noticed that Morgana had 'that look' in her eyes, the look that clearly said she meant serious business.

"Merlin Emrys." She stated as she sat across from him.

"Whatever it is, I swear it wasn't my fault." Merlin said quickly.

"Of course it's not your fault Merlin." Gwen assured him. "It doesn't even matter, Morgana's just being weird…well not _weird _weird. Obviously I don't mean _weird_…just, you know…weird. In a nice way."

"I'm lost." Will told them through a mouthful of sandwich.

"Don't talk with your mouth full William." Freya pleaded. "It's seriously unattractive. Now, what's going on?" She asked turning back to the other girls.

"Arthur hasn't been in to school this week." Morgana pointed out to them.

"Yeah, that's a good thing." Will replied. "Hopefully the wanker's been hit by a bus or something."

"Will." Merlin and Freya said reproachfully.

"What?" Will asked. "The guy's a fucking dick. Merlin, come on mate, you'd like it if Pendragon was hit by a bus right?"

"I honestly wouldn't care." Merlin told him. "Anyway Gana, what does Arthur's absence have to do with me?"

"You must have some reason why he's not in school." Morgana said as she leaned forwards studying him carefully. "Did something happen between you two? Did you argue?"

"How could I argue with him, he hasn't been here?" Merlin replied feeling confused.

"Merlin you must have done something." Morgana told him.

"Why?" Merlin asked. "Why are you blaming me? Maybe Arthur's finally realised there's a dick protruding from his head and he's gone to hospital to remove it."

"Is that a love bite on your neck?" Morgana asked suddenly as she spied the blemish that wasn't quite covered by Merlin's neck scarf.

"No." Merlin squeaked turning beet red as he tried to cover the mark.

"Oh Merlin." Gwen said excitedly as she and Freya scooted closer. "Tell us everything."

"It's nothing." He told them.

"Is it from Arthur?" Morgana asked.

"Oh mate, if Pendragon did that to your neck I _will _throw up." Will said.

"Of course it's not from Arthur." Merlin hissed embarrassedly. "I just…last week…an old friend turned up unexpectedly."

"An old friend?" Freya enquired. "Do you mean a boyfriend?"

"Well…an ex-boyfriend." Merlin admitted sheepishly. "But it's no big deal."

"Of course it is." Morgana told him forgetting about Arthur for the moment. "Are you back with him?"

"Is he good-looking?" Freya asked.

"Does he go to this school?" Gwen questioned. "Do we know him?"

"How old is he?" Freya wanted to know.

"How far have you gone?" Morgana asked nosily.

"Do we have to talk about blokes?" Will asked.

"Yes." The three girls snapped at him.

Letting out a groan, Will stood up and slung his bag onto his shoulder then clapped a hand on Merlin's back.

"No offense mate, but I really don't want to listen to this." Will told him.

"And I don't want to suffer this torture at all." Merlin replied. "So I'll just get up and leave with you."

"Sit down Merlin." Morgana ordered before he had a chance to move.

"Bad luck mate." Will said sympathetically before heading away leaving Merlin at the mercy of the three girls.

"His name's Lancelot." Merlin informed them.

"Lancelot?" Morgana asked. "What kind of ridiculous name is that?"

"That would be the name his parents gave to him when he was born." Merlin answered her. "He's tall, dark and handsome. We've only gone as far as kissing and a little bit of groping which I will not go into details of so don't even bother asking." All three girls sighed in disappointment. "We're sort of back together but sort of not. It's complicated."

"Why?" Freya asked him. "Are you supposed to be secret boyfriends or something? Is he still in the closet?"

"Do you need me to beat him up?" Morgana asked.

"No." Merlin told them. "He's just…well he's older."

"Oh no Merlin." Gwen exclaimed. "He's not a middle-aged married man is he?"

"Of course not." He assured her. "We met last year. We hit it off really well but I lied to him about my age. When he found out I was only fourteen he ended it. Then the other day he was sat on my doorstep and he told me he couldn't stop thinking about me."

"Wait, how old is this Lancelot guy?" Morgana asked.

"He's eighteen." Merlin admitted.

"Eighteen? That's way too old." Freya told him.

"He's a great guy." Merlin said. "I really like him."

"Freya's right, he's too old." Morgana told him. "He's only after one thing. Once he's got in to your pants he'll be off after the next underage boy."

"Lancelot's not like that." Merlin defended. "And maybe I _want _him to get in to my pants."

"Merlin." The three girls admonished sounding shocked.

"What?" Merlin asked. "I know I'm gay girls but I'm still a guy. A fifteen year old guy which basically means I'm horny all day and night so yes…I think about sex. Get over it."

With that said, Merlin got up and hurried away.

**Morgana's POV**

She didn't like the idea of Merlin being with an older man. True, three years wasn't that much of an age gap but Merlin was still in school and this Lancelot guy was…she didn't even know. Of course, Merlin was free to make his own mind up and Morgana would just have to respect his decision…until she found a way to get Lancelot out of the picture and force Merlin and Arthur together just as they should be.

So, after school, Morgana made her way to the Pendragon household. Although she knew where the house was, she'd never been inside. Walking up the long garden path, she fixed her most intimidating scowl onto her face before knocking on the door.

**Arthur's POV**

Eventually, Arthur opened it not looking at all surprised to see her.

"LeFay." He acknowledged.

"Pendragon." She replied before inviting herself inside.

"Oh, do come in." Arthur told her sarcastically as she made her way to the lounge and sat down on the couch. "Make yourself at home."

"Why haven't you been at school?" Morgana asked him not bothering to beat around the bush.

"I didn't feel up to it." Arthur answered with a shrug. "Drink?" He offered.

"Summer fruit juice with lemonade." Morgana said.

"What? You still drink that stuff?" Arthur asked her pulling a face of disgust as he made his way to the kitchen.

_At ten years old, Arthur and Morgana were round Merlin's house. The three had made cakes together with the help of Hunith. Morgana had then decided she wanted to make a new drink. After raiding Hunith's cupboards, Morgana eventually settled for the pink coloured summer fruit drink along with the bubbly lemonade. _

_The drink smelled absolutely disgusting but Morgana seemed to love it. Even Merlin had quite enjoyed it but Arthur thought it tasted foul. Since then, it had become Morgana's favourite drink._

After preparing a glass for Morgana, Arthur carefully carried it back and handed it to her.

"Delicious." She smiled approvingly after taking her first gulp. "I haven't made one of these since…since the three of us stopped being friends."

"Merlin has a boyfriend." Arthur spoke up ignoring the girl's comment about the drink.

"Yes. Lancelot." Morgana said.

"Lancelot?" Arthur asked. "You've met him?"

"Not yet." Morgana answered. "But I intend to. How do you know about him? Merlin only told me today when I discovered the love bite on his neck."

"I followed Merlin home last week." Arthur admitted. "Only so we could work on our English assignments." He added hastily.

"Oh, of course." Morgana replied obviously not believing him.

"Yes, well, I hid in a bush so they wouldn't see me." Arthur continued. "I planned to knock on Merlin's door when the other loser had gone but…it didn't look like he was in a hurry to leave. The punk just grabbed Merlin and shoved his tongue down his throat and…and he fucking kissed back."

"Jealous much?" Morgana asked in amusement. "I hear this Lancelot is really handsome as well, I doubt that does much for your ego."

"The creep's good-looking alright." Arthur replied. "If you like that sort of thing. I suppose you find this whole situation hilarious."

"Moderately." Morgana told him. "You've been a complete asshole Arthur, in a way you deserve this."

"You know how I really feel about Merlin then." Arthur sighed. "Well of course you do. You always know everything don't you Gana."

"Not always." Morgana said reasonably. "But yes, most of the time I am right. Anyway, even though you deserve to feel the pain and jealousy you're going through right now, I'm going to help you win Merlin back."

"How can I win him back?" Arthur asked her. "He wasn't even mine to begin with. Besides, he hates me now, with good reason and…and he's all loved up with Lancelot."

"So?" Morgana asked. "Is that really a reason to give up? The Arthur I know wouldn't sit and sulk because things haven't gone his way. The Arthur I was friends with would get up and fight for what's rightfully his."

"You want me to have a fight with Lancelot?" Arthur blanched. "Gana, the guy's a few years older than me you know and he'd probably kick my head in."

"I didn't mean a literal fight you fool." Morgana told him. "You have to apologise to Merlin for how you've treated him and then tell him how you really feel. You need to make a gesture of some sort and express your true feelings."

"Are you crazy?" He asked her. "Wait, don't answer that, I already know the answer's yes. Look, I can't just walk up to Merlin and announce that I love him after…after everything. I'd only make a fool of myself. He'd laugh at me before skipping off back to his precious Lancelot. Not to mention the fact that if my father finds out I'm gay he'll beat the hell out of me."

"He would not." Morgana defended. "I know Uther isn't the easiest man to speak to but he's never hit you before and there's no reason for him now. He'll find out one day you know. You can't hide in the closet forever and honestly Arthur, it's better for your father to hear the truth from you."

The blonde looked like he wanted to retort but he contained himself and headed upstairs to his bedroom instead. With a sigh, Morgana finished her drink before letting herself out.

**Merlin's POV**

It was the end of the school week and the time to present their English assignments had arrived. Today, Arthur had come to school. At the end of the day their last lesson was English. Everybody sat down beside their partners chatting happily with the exception of the two boys at the back.

Arthur had his work covered so the dark-haired boy couldn't read what he'd written. Merlin was beside him also hiding what he'd done from the other boy. They didn't speak to one another or even look at each other. The two just sat side by side and watched as everyone else did their presentations.

For the most part, Merlin didn't pay attention to the other students. He just looked towards the front then applauded when everyone else did. His mind kept drifting to the boy beside him wondering what Arthur had written about him. Something cruel and nasty no doubt.

When Freya did her presentation on Sophia, Merlin listened for real as he wanted to support his friend. He also listened attentively to Gwen and Morgana's.

Eventually, Merlin and Arthur were the only two left.

"Ok boys." Miss Read said smiling at the two. "Which one of you wants to go first?"

The teacher was met with silence as both Merlin and Arthur avoided eye contact with her.

"Well boys?" Miss Read asked impatiently.

"I'll go first." Merlin told her as he grabbed his things and walked to the front.

He stood before the rest of the class and using a piece of blue-tack, he stuck a large photo of a six year old Arthur to the board. A few of the boys sniggered whilst most of the girls 'Awwed'.

"My presentation is on Arthur Pendragon." Merlin announced not looking at the blonde at the back. "First of all, I would like to read you the poem I wrote about him."

Merlin cleared his throat before reading the poem aloud to the class.

"A few years back,  
We went into town,  
Stopped inside a shop,  
Took a look around.

Then we found three bracelets,  
Bought them right away,  
Nothing extraordinary,  
But still a pretty good day.

Morgana's was pink,  
It bore the word 'BEST',  
And mine was purple,  
It bore the word 'FRIENDS'.

And Arthur the blue bracelet,  
You so wanted to take,  
It bore the word 'FOREVER',  
And was the first one to break.

Way back then,  
I thought it'd always be us three,  
But it seems that forever,  
Was not meant to be.

We were the three misfits,  
And we were happy that way,  
But now you're the bully,  
Who spoils our play.

I remember the days,  
When our friendship was strong,  
I thought it would last forever,  
I guess I was wrong.

Those three friendship bracelets,  
Now seem such a mistake,  
The one inscribed with 'FOREVER',  
Was the first one to break."

As Merlin finished reading the poem an awkward silence settled over the room and the other students seemed to avoid looking directly at Merlin, Arthur or even Morgana.

"And now, I'd like to play the song that makes me think about the one and only Arthur Pendragon." Merlin said before placing the C.D in the player and skipping to the correct track. "This song is called 'Thank You' by Simple Plan."

_**I thought that I could always count on you,  
I thought that nothing could become between us two.  
We said as long as we would stick together,  
We'd be alright,  
We'd be ok.  
But I was stupid  
And you broke me down  
I'll never be the same again.**_

So thank you for showing me,  
That best friends can not be trusted,  
And thank you for lying to me,  
Your friendship and good times we had you can have them back.

Yeah!

I wonder why it always has to hurt,  
For every lesson that you have to learn.  
I won't forget what you did to me,  
How you showed me things,  
I wish I'd never seen.  
But I was stupid,  
And you broke me down,  
I'll never be the same again.

So thank you for showing me,  
That best friends can not be trusted,  
And thank you for lying to me,  
Your friendship the good times we had you can have them back.

When the tables turn again,  
You'll remember me my friend,  
You'll be wishing I was there for you.  
I'll be the one you'll miss the most,  
But you'll only find my ghost.  
As time goes by,  
You'll wonder why,  
You're all alone.

So thank you for showing me,  
That best friends can not be trusted,  
And thank you for lying to me,  
Your friendship and good times we had you can have them back.

So thank you, for lying to me,  
So thank you, for all the times you let me down  
So thank you, for lying to me,  
So thank you, your friendship you can have it back.

The song finished and the atmosphere in the classroom became even more uncomfortable.

As he switched the C.D player off, Merlin looked towards Arthur. The blonde had his arms folded and it looked as though he was clutching something in his right hand. His chin was down towards his chest but his blue eyes peered through his blonde hair to stare right at Merlin.

"And now, here's my essay." Merlin told them. "I didn't write much…I don't think there was really any need to." He picked up the sheet of paper and started to read. "Arthur Pendragon is a prat. He may seem like your regular arrogant jerk but really he's just a scared little boy who continually fails to make his father proud. He likes to put on an act and pretend he's something he's not because he isn't happy with who he really is. There was a time when he was my best friend, more than that, he was my hero. When we were younger, I always wished I could be more like Arthur. But things change. We're not friends anymore and he's the last person I'd want to turn out like. The truth is, I'm not sure if Arthur ever truly was himself. I think perhaps he was always acting, pretending. He's like a knight. He bullies other people, people he once called friends, and makes them feel as small and worthless as possible just to make him feel better. His cruel insults and his violent attacks, they are his sword. Then there's his lovely girlfriend princess Vivian. She's his shield. As long as he has her dangling off his arm he can continue lying about who he truly is. As to the person who's hiding beneath the armour and helmet, I have no idea who he is. The Arthur Pendragon I knew, I think he was no more than a myth. He's not really the wonderful person I always believed him to be and he's not the asshole he pretends to be now. He's nobody."

Upon finishing, Merlin tore the photo of Arthur down, collected his C.D then made his way back to his seat. Nobody applauded his presentation. They were all too stunned. Everybody was looking uncomfortably at the floor not sure how they should react.

"Arthur?" Miss Read asked gently. "Are you ok to do your presentation next?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Merlin saw Arthur nod and the blonde moved to the front.

"My presentation is on Merlin Emrys." Arthur told the class and though they all listened, not one of them was able to look at the blonde with the exception of Merlin.

Merlin stared defiantly into the blonde's blue eyes daring him to be as nasty as Merlin had.

"I guess I'll start with the poem I wrote about Merlin." Arthur said as held the piece of paper in his hands.

"He's in my head,

He's in my heart,

And he has been there,

Right from the start.

He is my blood,

He is my breath,

He has been everything,

From the moment we met.

He is my soul,

He is my life,

He is the person,

I dream of at night.

He is my courage,

He is my hate,

He is the reason,

I'm in such a state.

He's my inspiration,

He is my shame,

He is the one being,

That I cannot blame.

He's my confusion,

He's the reason I cry,

He's all of these things,

And yet he's not mine."

Once Arthur finished reading the poem aloud all eyes swivelled to rest on Merlin. All of a sudden, Merlin felt like a complete and utter asshole.

"I'd now like to play you the song I've chosen." Arthur said. "It fits well for how I feel about Merlin. The song is called 'Can't Let Go' by Landon Pigg."

_**Well you're the closest thing I have  
To bring up in a conversation  
About a love that didn't last  
But I could never call you mine  
Cause I could never call myself yours  
And if we were really meant to be  
Well then we justify destiny  
Its not that our love died  
Just never really bloomed**_

Well I cant let go  
No, I cant let go of you  
You're holding me back without even trying to.  
I can't let go  
I can't move on from the past  
Without lifting a finger you're holding me back.

And then we saw our paths diverge  
And I guess I felt O_**k about it.  
Until you got with another man,  
And then I couldn't understand  
Why it bothered me so.  
How we didn't die we just  
Never had a chance to grow.**_

I can't let go  
No, I can't let go of you  
You're holding me back without even trying to.  
I can't let go  
I can't move on from the past.  
Without lifting a finger you're holding me back.

And it might not make much sense  
To you or any of my friends  
Though somehow still you affect the  
Things I do.  
And you can't lose what you never had  
I don't understand why I feel sad  
Every time I see you out with someone new.

I can't let go  
No, I can't let go  
No, I can't let go of you.

I can't let go  
No, I can't let go of you  
You're holding me back without even trying to.  
I can't let go  
I can't move on from the past  
Without lifting a finger you're holding me back.

I can't let go  
No, I can't let go of you  
You're holding me back without even trying to.  
I can't let go  
I can't move on from the past.

When the song finished, Merlin felt even worse. He was beginning to feel sick. How could Arthur stand up there and read that poem then play that song? Arthur had stopped being friends with him, and then he'd basically ignored him for a year before suddenly deciding to bully him. Now the prat was stood before their English class making Merlin squirm with guilt when really Merlin had done nothing wrong.

"Now, here's the essay I wrote." Arthur spoke up sounding surprisingly calm. "Well, it's not really an essay because I didn't write much but…well, here it is. Merlin Emrys is an idiot. He's also the most amazing person I've ever had the pleasure to know. I first made friends with Merlin because I liked his ears. It didn't take long for me to realise that I liked everything about the boy. My boy. That's what I used to call him. For years I had the best friend anyone could ask for and then I threw it all away because I was scared. When we were younger, Merlin used to tell me how brave I was when I saved Morgana from the spiders or when I climbed the tallest trees. But really, Merlin's the brave one. He's never been afraid to be himself. Sometimes I wish I could be more like him but I really want is to be with him. I'm in love with Merlin Emrys."

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	10. Forever

**Disclaimer-I do not own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone**

**Chapter 9-Forever **

**Arthur's POV**

The blonde had just outed himself in front of his entire English class and confessed to being in love with Merlin. He knew it wouldn't take long for this piece of information to spread around the school. Soon enough, Vivian would be shrieking at him in outrage before dumping him and Valiant would no doubt throw a few punches at him. It was highly likely that stares and whispers would follow him through the school corridors for a while. But right now, Arthur didn't care about that.

As strange as it sounded, Arthur felt really good right now. He didn't have to lie anymore, he didn't have to pretend. He could finally be himself and if other people didn't like it then that was there problem.

His eyes were fixed on Merlin who looked just as stunned as the rest of the students. Even Morgana looked slightly astounded by what had happened.

As the silence stretched on, Arthur imagined how his current situation would turn out if his life was a movie. In a film, Merlin would declare that he was in love with Arthur too and romantic music would play in the background as they moved towards one another to share a passionate kiss. Of course, in real life, things didn't run as smoothly.

Merlin was still sat at the back of the classroom with a dumb expression on his face not saying a word.

The bell rang and everybody jumped from the unexpected noise.

"Right class." Miss Read said coming out of her stupor. "Off you go, have a good weekend everybody."

Moving quickly, the students filed out of the classroom and talk broke out among them as soon as they set foot in the corridor. Arthur and Merlin hadn't moved an inch and the two were still staring at one another from across the room, Merlin sat in his seat and Arthur standing at the front.

"Sort it out you two." Freya pleaded from the doorway before she, Gwen, Morgana and even Miss Read stepped out closing the door behind them no doubt waiting in the corridor.

"Merlin." Arthur spoke softly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything."

He took a breath and waited for the dark haired boy to respond but Merlin's lips were sealed tight.

"Look, I know I've acted like a dick." Arthur said as he clutched tightly to what ever it was he held in his hand. "But…"

"But what?" Merlin asked. "Am I supposed to just forgive you and we pretend the past couple of years didn't happen? You know Arthur you're a real fucking clot-pole. You can't just treat me like shit then tell me you love me and expect us to ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Do you even realise how badly you've hurt me? Then you get up and say all of…that which makes me feel like I'm the asshole but really it's you."

"I know." Arthur agreed. "And I've told you I'm sorry and I don't expect anything I just…I needed you to know."

Arthur leaned his back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling whilst Merlin dropped his head onto the desk.

"We're not friends anymore Arthur." Merlin told him. "I don't think we'll ever be friends again…not like we were before. You destroyed that."

"I know." Arthur sighed. "I know."

"I'm back with my ex-boyfriend." Merlin said feeling the need to bring it up, not to rub it in the other boy's face, just to make it clear to him that nothing could happen between them.

"Yes, the infamous Lancelot." Arthur sneered. "I saw the two of you kissing on your doorstep last week."

"He's a great guy." Merlin declared. "I really like him. He makes me feel special and he's not ashamed of me or himself. He's wonderful."

"He's too old for you." Arthur said.

"That really isn't your business." Merlin replied. "He makes me happy so please, if you really care for me at all, don't try and ruin it."

Arthur clutched tighter to the object in his hand before crossing the room to stand before Merlin. With his left hand, he reached out to touch the pale boy's ear. The dark-haired boy shivered slightly from the feel before pulling his head away.

"Don't." He said simply so Arthur let his hand drop.

"Do you hate me?" Arthur asked him in a quiet voice.

"I try too." Merlin answered honestly. "But no…I don't hate you Arthur. I wish I could. I _really _wish I could but I don't."

"I love you." Arthur whispered to him as he bent down so he was level with Merlin.

Merlin rubbed his face and looked away from the blonde but he could still feel those piercing blue eyes burning into him.

"Does Lancelot love you?" Arthur asked almost challengingly.

"I don't know." Merlin told him honestly.

"Do you love him?" Arthur asked silently hoping that the answer was no.

He stayed silent for a while seeming to think over his answer before simply shaking his head. Merlin then turned back to face the blonde. Arthur's heart was in his throat and his stomach was twisting itself in to knots. The two of them were only fifteen years old, they were still so young, they shouldn't be experiencing things like love. Yet Arthur was certain that was how he felt. He'd known Merlin for ten years and he was sure his feelings for the other boy were true. This wasn't some silly school crush, it was real. They were like two sides of the same coin. They belonged together, they must belong together.

"You're my boy." Arthur said as he placed his hand over Merlin's only for Merlin to pull his hand away. "You'll always be my boy. Forever."

He then took one of Merlin's hands and forced it open before placing something inside his hand then closing it up. Arthur then stood, grabbed his things and left the classroom.

Miss Read and the girls were stood just outside and they looked at him concernedly but he ignored them and carried on walking.

**Merlin's POV**

Slowly, he opened his hand to see what Arthur had handed over to him. Looking down, his eyes landed upon the broken friendship bracelet that bore the word 'FOREVER' in blue writing.

"Forever." Merlin read aloud before clasping his hand tight around the bracelet again.

The girls stepped in to the classroom looking at him carefully waiting for him to say something.

"Well?" Morgana asked impatiently when Merlin stayed silent for too long. "What's happening?"

"Nothing." Merlin answered her.

"Nothing?" Freya and Gwen asked together.

"Nothing." Merlin repeated as he gathered his things still keeping a tight hold on the bracelet.

"But you love him too." Freya said. "I know you love him too."

"Sometimes love isn't enough." Merlin replied. "Anyway, I'm with Lancelot."

"To hell with Lancelot." Morgana exclaimed. "I know Arthur's been a jerk but he was just too scared to admit how he truly felt. You can understand that right? You can work through this, we'll all be friends again and the two of you can be together like you're supposed to be."

"You did say you'd forgive him in a heartbeat if he apologised." Freya reminded him.

"I do forgive him." Merlin told them. "But that doesn't mean I can just forget what he did to me or how he hurt me. I don't ever want to be hurt like that again. So, I'm staying with Lancelot."

"And what if he hurts you?" Gwen asked him.

"He won't." Merlin assured her. "Not like Arthur could. If Lancelot breaks up with me or cheats on me or…whatever…I'll get over it, I'll get over him. Same with any other guy. But not Arthur. He's already broken my heart once. There's no way I'd survive if he hurt me again."

He looked around his three friends before smiling awkwardly at his teacher then leaving the room. As he walked down the corridor he could hear them discussing what he'd just said and Miss Read was trying to calm them down.

He carried on walking and when he left the building and reached the school gates he found Lancelot waiting for him on his motorbike holding a spare helmet.

"Fancy a ride?" Lancelot offered with a dashing smile.

"Awesome." Merlin grinned as he took the helmet.

Before he could place it on his head, Lancelot moved in to softly kiss him before he fixed his own helmet back on then helped the younger boy with his. As Merlin settled himself on the back of the motorbike and wrapped his arms around Lancelot's waist he spotted Arthur sat in the top branches of a tree looking down at them with pain and jealousy in his eyes. Forcing away the feeling of guilt, Merlin pretended not to see and held tight to Lancelot as the older boy drove him home.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	11. Be a Man Arthur

**Disclaimer-I still don't own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone**

**Chapter 10-Be a Man Arthur **

**Freya's POV**

She still wasn't sure if she liked Arthur or not. The boy had never given her a reason to like him. To her, he had always seemed like an arrogant prat. Well, in all fairness he hadn't always seemed like that. Back when Merlin, Arthur and Morgana were all friends, Arthur had seemed nice enough. But when Arthur started hanging around with Valiant and Vivian he had become a bully.

Although Arthur had never directly bullied Freya, he had treated Merlin appallingly and that was enough reason for her not to like him. Of course, she now knew that Arthur truly loved Merlin and that he was sorry for all he had done. She tried to convince herself that the blonde couldn't be all bad.

One thing Freya couldn't deny was the fact that she felt sorry for Arthur. He had stood before their entire English class, admitted he was gay and announced his love for Merlin. It must have taken him a lot of courage to do that.

Then there was the issue of Lancelot. Freya had never met the older boy so she was in no position to fairly judge his character. That was why she was on her way round to Merlin's house. With any luck, Lancelot would be there and she'd be able to meet him and decide for herself whether he was good enough for her friend or not. If he was a decent guy, then Freya would support Merlin in his decision to date him but if he was really an asshole pretending to be a decent guy, Freya would try and convince Merlin to end the relationship and give Arthur a chance.

She reached Merlin's house and her eyes instantly spotted the motorbike which she assumed belonged to Lancelot. It definitely wasn't Merlin's and she was certain it did not belong to Hunith.

Fiddling with a strand of her brunette hair, Freya walked up the garden path and knocked lightly on the door. She waited a few moments and the door was soon opened to reveal a broadly grinning Merlin.

"Freya, hi." He greeted and Freya smiled back, it had been a long time since she'd heard him sound so happy.

"Is he here?" Freya asked in a whisper referring to Lancelot. "Can I meet him?"

Grinning Merlin nodded and invited her inside. She followed him through to the living-room where Lancelot was seated on the couch.

At first glance, Freya clearly saw that Lancelot was devastatingly handsome. He could easily be a model or a movie star with his good-looks. However, in Freya's experience, the gorgeous men usually turned out to be the dickheads.

"Freya, this is my boyfriend Lancelot." Merlin introduced. "Lancelot, this is Freya."

"Hi." She said shyly.

"Hi." Lancelot replied. "It's lovely to meet you."

"Drink?" Merlin asked looking at his friend.

"Yes please." Freya answered and Merlin nodded before moving to the kitchen.

Freya stood awkwardly by the mantelpiece not sure what to do with herself.

"You can sit down." Lancelot smiled. "I don't bite."

Freya just smiled bashfully in response before sitting down on the far end of the couch. She toyed with her beaded necklace struggling to think of something to say. To her relief, Lancelot started off the conversation and Freya was forced to admit to herself that so far he did seem every bit as wonderful as Merlin had said. In fact, he seemed perfect. For that reason, Freya wasn't convinced she liked the older boy. In her opinion, nobody could be that perfect, perfection didn't exist in her mind. He had to have some characteristic flaw, he was human after all.

Merlin returned with Freya's drink as well as a plate of biscuits. He sat between his friend and boyfriend and the three talked comfortably with one another.

"So how did you two get back together?" Freya finally had the courage to ask.

"Well, it just sort of happened." Merlin admitted as he smiled fondly up at the older boy.

"I couldn't stop thinking about him." Lancelot said. "I just had to see him again and when I did everything I felt for him before just intensified."

"Have you met Hunith yet?" Freya asked.

The two dark haired boy's shared an uncomfortable look before Lancelot turned back to face Freya and answer her question.

"Not yet." He told her. "We've both agreed it would be better if she didn't know about us. We're not sure if she'd approve of our relationship because of my age."

"So you're lying to your mother?" Freya asked Merlin sounding shocked and disappointed.

"Not lying, not really." Merlin said defensively. "I'm just…not telling her everything."

"That's the same as lying." Freya told him. "You know what, I should go. Enjoy the rest of your weekend."

"Freya." Merlin sighed knowing the girl was upset.

"I'll see you at school Merlin." Freya said dismissively.

She left the room heading for the front door but paused, turned back and walked over to the table. She grabbed another biscuit for the walk home before turning back round and leaving.

**Merlin's POV**

"I'm sorry about that." Merlin apologised once Freya had gone.

"It doesn't matter." Lancelot assured him. "Besides, she does have a point. It is wrong for us to lie to your mother."

"I know." Merlin said as he cuddled against the older boy's side. "But if my mum knew about us she might try to break us up and I don't want that. Why does it matter so much that you're older? It's only three years; it isn't that big of a deal."

"You won't be fifteen forever Merlin." Lancelot told him. "When you're older we can tell your mum and then we can be together properly."

"I want to be together properly now." Merlin replied.

"I know love." Lancelot said. "But this is the way it has to be."

Merlin smiled weakly before positioning himself so he was sat astride Lancelot's lap. He looped his arms over the older teens head before lowering his mouth to his. Lancelot eagerly responded to the kiss running his hands through the younger boy's hair, down his back then settling them on that tightly formed bum he admired so much.

**Morgana's POV**

For once, Morgana was unsure of what she should do. She had spent most of her Saturday afternoon pacing the length of her bedroom floor trying to think of a solution.

The dark haired girl knew what she wanted to achieve, she just wasn't sure how to set about achieving it. She wanted her two old best friends back. More than that, she wanted the two of them, Merlin and Arthur, to be together. Of course, in order for them to be together, she had to somehow get rid of Lancelot and then convince Merlin to give Arthur a chance.

So far, the only plan she had thought of was to attack Lancelot from behind with a crowbar. Not to kill him, just to injure him enough so that he had to be taken to hospital. Then she could ask Merlin and Arthur to both meet her somewhere then lock them in a room together. However, she wasn't entirely sure if that would work and the police probably wouldn't be filled with understanding when they asked her why she had attacked Lancelot.

She needed a proper plan, something that was sure to work. It was obvious that Merlin still had feelings of a romantic kind for Arthur. The boy was just forcibly pushing them from his mind and focusing on Lancelot instead because Merlin had suddenly decided to become stubborn and difficult.

"I hate boys." Morgana seethed.

Realising that she couldn't do this by herself, she decided she would ask Gwen for help. However, as smart as Gwen was, she wasn't really the scheming type. She also considered asking Freya for help but she wasn't sure if the girl would agree, Morgana thought perhaps the other girl was too nice to take part in such a thing. There was no point asking Will to help, he hated Arthur too much.

Her mum calling her name interrupted Morgana's thoughts and she headed downstairs to see what her mother wanted. On the doorstep stood Freya.

"Hi." Morgana greeted as she stood back to let the slender girl in. "What's up?"

"I've just met Lancelot." Freya informed her.

"And?" Morgana asked eagerly as she led the girl up to her bedroom. "What's wrong with him? There has to be something. Was he horrible? Did he make a pass at you?"

"Why would he make a pass at me?" Freya asked her. "He's gay."

"Oh right. Never mind." Morgana said. "So tell me, what's he like?"

"Tall, dark and handsome." Freya answered. "He's also polite, charming and friendly. He seems perfect but…I don't like him and I don't trust him."

"Brilliant." Morgana exclaimed. "I knew this Lancelot guy had to be an asshole."

"I wouldn't say he's an asshole." Freya spoke up. "I just…no-one can be that perfect. I don't have any reason not to like him I just…I just don't. Hunith doesn't even know that they're dating. Apparently they've agreed to keep their relationship secret from her because of…well, their age difference."

"Merlin never keeps secrets from his mum." Morgana said. "Clearly Lancelot is a bad influence. We have to split them up somehow and then we have to get Merlin together with Arthur."

"But how do we do that?" Freya asked. "Is it even our place to? Maybe we should just sit back and let things happen naturally."

"We could do." Morgana replied. "But that's boring. I want to meddle, destroy and repair. I just have no idea where to start."

"Well, we could make an effort to encourage Merlin and Arthur to be friends again." Freya suggested. "That's a start at least. As it is, I doubt Valiant and Vivian will greet Arthur with friendship Monday morning. He won't have anyone on his side so he's going to need new friends. That could be us. You, me and Gwen and in time I'm sure Merlin will accept his friendship back."

"What about Will?" Morgana asked.

"He won't like it." Freya admitted. "But he won't have a choice. And the more Merlin hangs around with Arthur the more he'll be forced to realise how he feels about him. Maybe that will be enough for him to end things with Lancelot and try working it out with Arthur."

**Sunday Arthur's POV**

For once, his father was at home. He was in his study working on…something. Arthur didn't particularly care what.

For the past half hour Arthur had been pacing outside of his father's study door trying to work up the courage to knock. He needed to tell his father the truth about his sexual preferences. On Monday morning, the entire school would no doubt be talking about the fact that Arthur Pendragon was gay.

At some point, word would reach his father's ears. Although Arthur would like to keep his homosexuality a secret from his father forever, he knew it wasn't possible. His father would find out soon enough and perhaps it would be better to hear it from his son.

There was a knock at the front door and Arthur groaned before moving to answer it. On his doorstep he found Morgana.

"Are you ok?" She asked gently as she stepped inside not bothering to wait for an invitation.

"Never been better." Arthur drawled. "What are you doing here Gana? If it's to offer me pity you can leave right now."

"I wanted to make sure you were ok." Morgana told him. "I also thought you might need some support. I take it you haven't told your father yet."

"No, not yet." Arthur admitted. "I'm just too…"

"Scared." Morgana supplied and the blonde nodded. "It's ok to be scared Arthur. Merlin was too when he told Hunith. I was there with him, holding his hand whilst he told her. I can do that for you too."

"Thanks." Arthur said quietly.

Morgana just smiled before taking the boy's hand then leading him back to his father's study. She knocked twice on the wooden door before pushing it open so she and Arthur could step through.

Uther's desk was filled with numerous sheets of paper and a minty smell was present in the room. He didn't look up immediately but when he did his eyes instantly dropped to Arthur and Morgana's conjoined hands.

"Good afternoon Mr. Pendragon." Morgana greeted politely. "Arthur would like to tell you something."

"Make it quick." Uther replied. "I have a lot of work to do."

"Father I…" Arthur began but couldn't manage much more. His throat seemed to have clogged up and he squeezed Morgana's hand tighter.

"Well?" Uther huffed impatiently.

"It's ok Arthur." Morgana said encouragingly. "Just say it."

"Father I'm…I'm…" Arthur tried again but he still couldn't get the words out.

Uther set down his fountain pen and rearranged some important looking sheets of paper before sitting up straight and looking expectantly at his son.

All of a sudden, Arthur felt incredibly sick. He cast his eyes downwards and stared at the coffee coloured carpet. He tried to recall the last time he'd had a meaningful conversation with his father but his mind came up blank. He then tried to remember the last time his father had hugged him but once again he couldn't think of anything. He could remember times when Hunith and Mrs. LeFay had hugged him but not his own father.

A large lump began to form in his throat and his eyes were burning. He felt certain he was going to cry soon. He slammed his eyelids shut trying to force the tears away but they fought back and slipped down his face. Arthur then remembered the last time he had cried in front of his father.

_He was ten years old. It was the day Arthur had learnt that Morgana's father had died. When he returned home after school, Arthur snuck into his father's bedroom. In the mahogany cabinet by his father's bed was a large box filled with photographs of Igraine, Arthur's mother. _

_Arthur had taken the box down and lifted the lid before looking through the photos. He had no memory of his mother, she had died shortly after the birth and his father never mentioned her. Talking about his mother was forbidden. _

_Entering his father's room and searching through these photos was also forbidden but Arthur didn't care. He cried silently as he looked over a picture of his mother. She was so beautiful. He wished more than anything that he could see her just once._

_Arthur hadn't been there long when his father stepped inside. Knowing he'd been caught, a teary-eyed Arthur had dropped the photo and hung his head guiltily. _

"_I'm sorry father." He apologised quickly._

"_Get out!" Uther snapped at him and Arthur hastened to obey. "And stop crying. Be a man Arthur."_

_Since then, Arthur hadn't dared to let his father see him cry._

As the tears fell down his face now, he expected his father to shout at him but Uther was silent as he studied his son waiting for him to speak.

"Go on Arthur." Morgana encouraged gently.

"I'm…I'm g-gay." Arthur finally managed to stutter out.

"Anything else?" Uther asked emotionlessly.

"No father." Arthur choked out. "That's all."

"Well in that case I have work to do." Uther replied. "Close the door on your way out."

Arthur was stunned. He'd told his father that he was gay and he received nothing in response. No anger, no disgust or disappointment. There was no Uther reassuring his son that he loved him and was proud of him no matter what. There was nothing and to Arthur, that was far worse than anything else.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	12. Someone Else's Boy Now

**Disclaimer-I do not own the magic that is Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone**

**Chapter 11-Someone Else's Boy Now **

**Miss Read's POV**

Monday morning's were always a little bit hectic. Even though she set her alarm for six o'clock Miss Read never got out of bed at that time. She'd switch the alarm off and pull the covers back over her head then snooze on until eight o'clock before she'd jump out of bed and rush around getting ready.

Somehow, she always managed to look flawless despite the short amount of time she spent getting dressed and fixing her hair. Luckily, she had sense enough to pack her work things the morning before. However, her luck run out when she hopped into her car at eight thirty and ended up stuck in the Monday morning traffic.

When she eventually parked her car in the school parking lot the bell signalling first lesson had just rung. She cursed under her breath before grabbing her handbag and her briefcase then climbing ungracefully out of the car. Making sure it was locked she moved quickly through the swarm of students, her high-heels clacking loudly on the tiled corridor floors.

Her students were lined up outside the room chatting to one another. They were used to their teacher being late every Monday by now.

"Sorry boys and girls." Miss Read apologised as she handed her things to a student named Rhiannon. "It's just another manic Monday." She sang causing the twelve year olds to laugh.

She produced the key to the classroom and unlocked it before shoving the door open and permitting her students to file in before her.

"Thank you Rhiannon." Miss Read said gratefully as the rosy-cheeked girl set the teacher's things on the desk.

The class had just settled down and Miss Read had gone through the register when she caught a glimpse of blonde passing by the window. She instantly recognised the golden head of hair as that of Arthur Pendragon.

"Page thirty-two." Miss Read told the class. "Alex, you're first up for reading aloud."

Ignoring the boy's groan of dismay Miss Read ducked out of the classroom to see Arthur slouching as he walked down the corridor heading for the toilets.

"Arthur?" She called out as she moved towards him.

The boy looked up at the sound of his name and Miss Read let out a small gasp as she took in the sight of the blood streaming down his face. His nose was bleeding and his lower lip had been split and blood was pouring down his chin.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Miss Read said gently as she directed the teen into the girls' toilets. "It's more hygienic than the boy's toilets." She told him. "And the boy's toilets smell awful."

Grabbing a handful of tissue paper, Miss Read turned the tap on and the water sprayed out into the porcelain sink. She wetted the paper before bringing it up to Arthur's face and washing the blood away.

"Who did this to you?" Miss Read asked him.

"I didn't see." Arthur lied as he shrugged.

"Arthur." Miss Read pressed knowing that he was being dishonest. "From the amount of times you've lied to me about the dog you don't have eating your homework I am perfectly capable of knowing when you're lying. Now tell me, who did this?"

"It was…Vivian." Arthur admitted flushing in embarrassment. "She's a girl, I couldn't hit her back."

"You should have done the brat deserves it." Miss Read muttered. "I mean…well done Arthur. You did the right thing by not hitting her back."

"I'm going to be a laughing stock." Arthur sighed. "As if things weren't bad enough already."

"This day was always going to be difficult." Miss Read told him sympathetically. "You just have to keep your chin up and get through it. Stay strong. I'm sure you'll have Morgana on your side and Guinevere and Freya."

"But not Merlin." Arthur said sadly.

"He'll come round." Miss Read replied with a soft smile.

"I doubt it." Arthur drawled.

"You'd better get yourself to class." Miss Read told him. "Come on, I'll write you a note."

They returned to Miss Read's classroom and she scribbled Arthur a quick note before sending him on his way. She then stood to face her pupils and began to teach the class properly. Throughout the day, she couldn't help but worry about the blonde boy.

At break time, Arthur turned up at the classroom door looking rather sheepish. She offered him a reassuring smile and permitted him to spend the break in her classroom.

When the bell rang, he thanked her before heading off to his next lesson.

As her room filled with her next class, Miss Read heard a number of her students gossiping about how Arthur had been beat up by a girl.

"I bet he cried like a baby." A boy named Scott laughed. "Haha, the little faggot."

A very unimpressed Miss Read issued Scott with an after school detention. The class sensed that the normally jolly Miss Read was in a dark mood and they sat nervously in their seats not daring to make a sound. She glared hard at her students, particularly the ones who had been laughing about Arthur before working them harder than she'd ever worked a class before. She also gave them a mass of homework to do that had to be handed in the next day.

"But Miss, that's not enough time." Alice complained.

"Tough." She barked in response. "You will do the homework and it will be handed in tomorrow morning or you will all be in detention until the end of term."

Her next class was the one that held Merlin and Arthur. The dark-haired boy was one of the first to arrive and the blonde was one of the last. As their English assignments had been completed, they were free to sit where they wanted again.

Merlin was back beside Freya and Arthur returned to sitting alone at the back.

As she taught the lesson, Miss Read kept gazing concernedly at Arthur. The boy looked so lonely and defeated. His shoulders were slumped, his head was down and he was avoiding eye-contact with everyone. The light in his blue eyes seemed to have faded out and there was no hint of smirk or smile upon his cut lips.

Arthur Pendragon had always seemed so strong and tough but looking at him now he looked as though he was ready to collapse. She didn't like seeing the teen look that way.

**Merlin's POV Lunchtime**

As usual he was seated beside Will in the canteen. The girls, Morgana, Gwen and Freya had all headed for the toilets together in order to discuss private matters that boys would not understand.

"Do you reckon one of them is pregnant or summat?" Will asked through a mouthful of sandwich.

"I hope not." Merlin replied. "I don't fancy being referred to as Uncle Merlin and forced to babysit."

Will chuckled in response and carried on eating.

Looking round the hall, Merlin's eyes landed upon Arthur who was sat at a table alone. He had a plate of food in front of him but he wasn't eating any of it.

"Don't look." Will spoke up as he noticed where Merlin's concentration had been drawn to. "It'll only make you feel sorry for the git. He treated you like shit remember."

"How could I forget?" Merlin asked rhetorically.

"Just ignore him mate." Will advised. "I know what you're like. If you keep looking over at him you'll feel like you have to go and sit with him just because the creep said he was in love with you. But you don't. You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"But maybe I do want to." Merlin said.

"No you don't." Will told him quickly. "You're with that older dude now. What's his name…er, Lancly."

"Lancelot." Merlin corrected.

"Yeah him." Will nodded. "You're with him now aren't ya? And he treats you right."

"Yeah, yeah he does." Merlin smiled as he thought of Lancelot.

"And he makes you happy." Will pointed out. "Pendragon over there doesn't make you smile like that. He only ever made you miserable."

"He never used to." Merlin said.

"Merlin, forget about the past mate." Will implored.

Nodding, Merlin pulled his eyes away from Arthur and turned his attention to his food. However, as a roar of laughter met his ears he looked up in search of the source. It seemed as though Valiant had tipped his coke over Arthur's head and the liquid was now dripping from Arthur's hair and down his face.

The blonde's cheeks were burning and it was obvious he felt humiliated. Merlin expected Arthur to punch Valiant in the face for such a thing or at least storm out of the canteen but Arthur did not move. He stayed in his seat keeping his eyes low trying to ignore the laughs and jeers that were surrounding him.

From where he sat, Merlin could hear some of the taunts Valiant, Vivian and some others were throwing at Arthur. They were clearly trying to provoke Arthur but he wasn't rising to the bait.

"Fucking faggot." Valiant sneered as he took Arthur's apple and bit into it before spitting the chunk at the blonde. "What does daddy think about having a queer son?"

Merlin's insides went cold as he heard Valiant's cruel words. He could only imagine how Arthur was feeling. One of Arthur's weaknesses was his relationship with his father. He was amazed that Arthur didn't punch Valiant in the face for his comment, Merlin certainly wanted to.

"Merlin leave it." Will whispered as he saw his friend stand up. "It's not worth it. Arthur's a tough guy he can take care of himself but Valiant will crucify you."

"I don't care." Merlin replied as he marched across the canteen.

"Oh look, here comes the other school fairy." Vivian giggled as she spotted Merlin.

Ignoring her Merlin pushed through the crowd of people and dropped into the seat beside Arthur.

"Are you two homo's gunna start making out now?" Valiant asked. "Because if so I'll have to throw up all over you."

Sending a glare in Valiant's direction, Merlin lightly placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder. The other boy was tense and Merlin knew if Valiant and the others carried on it wouldn't be long before Arthur snapped.

"Let's just get out of here." Merlin said quietly. "Come on."

Arthur picked up his bag and stood with Merlin still keeping his head down as they prepared to leave.

"Off to hide in a closet somewhere?" Valiant jeered. "Going to shove your dicks up one another's assholes you sick freaks. I bet Emrys is a little whore for you."

Upon hearing what Valiant said about Merlin, Arthur came to a stop.

"Arthur, leave it." Merlin warned but the blonde had already dropped his bag then launched himself at Valiant. "Arthur! Arthur stop!" Merlin shouted.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" The other students chanted as they circled Valiant and Arthur.

Arthur was on top raining his fists down upon Valiant again and again with a murderous look in his eyes. With a great deal of effort, as well as the help of a couple of other boys including Leon, Merlin managed to pull Arthur off of Valiant and lead him away.

As they left the canteen, Merlin looked back over his shoulder to see Vivian crouching down by Valiant's side and poking him in annoyance. Will joined them at the door and they headed outside for some fresh air and for Arthur to calm down.

**Arthur's POV**

He was fuming. He wanted to turn back around and punch Valiant some more. They could say what they wanted about him, they could call him a faggot or a queer or any other insult in their vocabulary but nobody was allowed to call Merlin a whore.

With a cry of anger Arthur punched the wall hearing his knuckles crack. Behind him, Merlin and Will both let out a wince and they edged away from him a little looking somewhat afraid.

The blonde was mildly aware of Merlin whispering something to his friend before Will objected, sighed then eventually agreed to whatever Merlin had asked and wandered off.

Massaging his aching knuckles, Arthur leaned against the brick wall before sliding down and sitting on the ground. A moment later he felt Merlin sit beside him and he turned to look at the dark-haired boy.

"You shouldn't have done that." Merlin told him reproachfully. "Valiant isn't worth it."

"No, he's not." Arthur agreed. "But you are. I won't let anybody call you a whore and get away with it."

"You've called me worse things." Merlin reminded him.

"I know." Arthur sighed as he turned his eyes to the ground.

"Morgana told me that she was with you when you told Uther." Merlin said. "Has he said anything more about it?"

"No." Arthur answered as he looked down at his aching hand. "He doesn't give a shit about me. He never has."

"I'm sorry." Merlin mumbled.

"How are you and Lancelot?" Arthur asked his voice dripping with disdain as he spoke the older male's name.

"Don't start Arthur." Merlin told him. "You don't even know him and as I've told you before it's not your business. So just stop being jealous and grow up."

"Oh I am sorry Merlin." Arthur replied sarcastically. "Do forgive me for having feelings for you."

"Arthur I don't want to fight." Merlin groaned. "Just keep any witty ass comments about my boyfriend to yourself."

"Whatever." Arthur grumbled with a shrug.

His fist was still hurting from where he'd punched the wall but the sting in his heart was much more painful. It wasn't his fault that he was jealous of Lancelot or that he was in love with Merlin. It seemed that whatever power was up there enjoyed messing with his life.

"How's your hand?" Merlin asked in a gentle tone.

"Hurts like fuck." Arthur admitted.

"Well that's what you get for punching a wall you prat." Merlin chuckled. "Come on, I'll take you to the nurse."

They walked to the nurse's office together and Arthur was instructed to sit down before an ice pack was placed over his injured knuckles.

"It's cold." Arthur hissed.

"That's the point." Merlin told him. "You wouldn't want a warm ice pack would you?"

"Keep that ice pack on there." The nurse said. "I'll be back in a moment to strap your fingers up."

"Thanks Merlin." Arthur said as he peered up at the pale skinned boy.

"No problem." Merlin replied. "I mean…I'm your boy right?"

"Not anymore." Arthur told him with a sad smile. "You're Lancelot's boy now."

"Right. Lancelot." Merlin said quietly. "Well um I should go. See you."

Arthur nodded as he watched the boy go. Once he was alone he let out a long sigh and rested the back of his head against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. A few minutes later the nurse came back and tended to his hand.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" She asked him.

"Do you have anything to fix a broken heart?" He asked.

"Sorry love, I don't." She replied.

"Yeah, didn't think so." Arthur drawled before leaving her office with a healing hand but a still damaged heart.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	13. Maybe it's The Motorbike

**Disclaimer-I do not own Merlin or the BBC…or a motorbike**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone**

**Chapter 12-Maybe it's The Motorbike **

**Will's POV**

It had been almost a month since Arthur had come out but the blonde was still a popular subject for gossip. He had been subjected to so much teasing and bullying by Valiant, Vivian and some others that even Will felt sorry for the blonde prat.

Upon the girls' insistence, Arthur had been welcomed into their friendship group. Will and Merlin didn't seem to have a choice in the matter. They all sat together at break and lunch and they worked together in the lessons they shared. Morgana had also taken to organising group activities on the weekends.

Last Saturday, they had all gone bowling and Merlin had invited Lancelot along. That day had been awkward and uncomfortable. Arthur's jealously hung in the air like a bad smell and he and Lancelot looked ready to kill every time they spoke to one another.

Although Will didn't particularly care for Arthur he begrudgingly admitted to Freya that he'd rather Merlin be with the blonde than with Lancelot.

He wasn't sure what it was about the older male but something about him bothered Will.

"I think he just has one of those faces." Will told Freya. "You know, like every time I look at him I just feel this urge to punch him in the face. I mean the dude seems nice enough and he hasn't done anything to make me hate him but…I just don't like him."

"I'm not too keen about him either." Freya replied. "I really think it's just the age thing that bothers me. Or maybe it's the motorbike."

"Nah girl it can't be the motorbike." Will said. "The motorbike's awesome."

When Freya turned her head Will quickly picked his nose then discreetly wiped the evidence into the cover of his quilt. He watched as Freya corrected a few of his maths sums before bringing her head back up to look at him.

"Have you talked to Merlin about Lancelot at all?" She asked.

"No." Will shrugged. "It's not really my thing is it? That's girl stuff, you should do it."

"I've really no idea what to say to him." Freya admitted with a sigh as she shifted position unknowingly giving Will a full view of her cleavage. "How can you tell your friend that you don't like their boyfriend when you have absolutely no legitimate reason not to?"

As he had been so occupied with staring down the girl's top, Will had no idea what Freya had just said so he simply settled for a shrug.

"Maybe Pendragon should just make Merlin jealous." Will suggested and Freya's eyes widened as she thought over what he'd just said.

"That might work." She replied as she threw her arms around Will. "You're a genius."

"I try." Will grinned as he hugged her back briefly before she pulled away with a slight tinge to her complexion.

"Maybe we should take Arthur to a gay bar so he can meet someone." Freya said excitedly. "Then when Merlin sees Arthur with another guy he'll get jealous, realise his mistake then he'll dump Lancelot and be with Arthur. Though that is harsh on the other guy we get for Arthur though."

"Ok slow down chick." Will laughed. "For a start, we're only fifteen; we can't get in to a gay bar."

"Then how are we going to find a gay boy for Arthur to make Merlin jealous?" Freya asked.

"There's got to be more than two gay boys at our school." Will told her. "I doubt anyone would have the guts to come out though, not with the likes of Valiant about. Maybe Lancelot knows a guy we could set Arthur up with. Still, there's no guarantee this plan will work."

"But it has to." Freya replied. "Merlin and Arthur belong together just like Romeo and…um…Romeo."

"Maybe you should just talk about this with Morgana and Gwen." Will said. "They'll be more help than me. I'm kind of useless."

"You're not useless." She told him as she picked his maths book up again and corrected a few more of his answers.

He smiled slightly and admired her slender form as she corrected his work. In all honesty, Will wasn't as bad at maths as he made out. He just pretended to be bad so that Freya would continue to help with his homework every week.

Feeling the urge to kiss her, Will reached a hand out to brush her hair over her shoulder. As she turned to face him with a questioning look he lost his nerve and pulled her hair instead before laughing.

"William!" She yelped before whacking him on the arm with his book.

**Gwen's POV**

She, Morgana and Arthur were round Merlin's house. The four of them were sitting on the sofa watching a DVD. Morgana had planned it so that the two boys were sat in the middle squashed close together.

At first, Merlin had leaned more towards Gwen but as the movie progressed he relaxed a bit more and leaned towards Arthur. The two girls had shared a satisfied smile at this before turning back to the television screen.

Part way through the movie, Gwen shifted in her seat and stretched out a bit more forcing Merlin to budge even closer to Arthur. On the other side of the sofa, Morgana did the same thereby shoving Arthur closer to Merlin.

A small giggle escaped Gwen's mouth but she managed to act as though she was laughing at the film. When Gwen shoved Merlin over some more the dark-haired boy let out an annoyed huff before standing up sitting himself between Arthur's legs.

Again, Gwen and Morgana shared smug grins before returning their attention to the film.

**Arthur's POV**

The blonde almost stopped breathing when Merlin moved to sit between his legs. His cock stirred in interest at the other's close proximity and he desperately prayed that Merlin wouldn't notice.

Looking out the corner of his eye he saw a wicked smirk on Morgana's lips and he knew that she had spotted his erection. Looking to his other side he noticed that Gwen's cheeks were a shade darker and the small giggle she let out confirmed that she too had spied his excitement.

Taking a deep breath, Arthur willed his erection to deflate. His breathing tickled the back of Merlin's neck causing the boy to laugh and squirm.

"That tickles." Merlin said as he leaned back towards Arthur and that's when he felt Arthur's hardness digging into his back.

Merlin's laughter died instantly and he blushed violently whilst Arthur froze and closed his eyes in horror.

"Is there a problem boys?" Morgana asked cheekily. "Perhaps the movie plot is too _hard _for you to understand."

"Shut up." Arthur pleaded feeling mortified and for once Morgana fell silent.

She caught Gwen's eye and gestured for the coffee-coloured girl to follow her and the two left the room leaving Merlin and Arthur alone.

With his eyes still squinted shut, Arthur felt Merlin move. Cautiously he opened his eyes to find Merlin sat beside him on the sofa his blue eyes fixed on the outline of his hard-on.

"Do you have to stare at it?" Arthur huffed.

"Sorry." Merlin said meekly though he did not pull his eyes away from Arthur's lap.

Turning his head away, Arthur tried to think of unsexy thoughts to encourage his erection away. However, as he felt Merlin reach a hand over and cup him through his jeans his shaft grew impossibly harder.

Trying to keep his breathing under control, Arthur looked back to Merlin who was slowly massaging the bulge in the blonde's pants. Biting down on his lip, Arthur spread his legs wide and leaned his head on the back of the couch enjoying the feel of Merlin's ministrations.

The sound of a motorbike engine ruined the moment and Merlin quickly pulled his hand away leaving Arthur deeply unsatisfied.

"Lancelot." Merlin said guiltily as he looked out the front window to see the older boy dismounting his motorbike and removing his helmet. "Oh god I'm such a slut…I shouldn't have…this didn't happen." He told Arthur frantically as he grabbed the blonde's arm and dragged him to the back door. "You need to leave. Through the back gate. Go. He can't see you."

"Merlin I…" Arthur tried to say but the dark-haired boy wasn't listening.

"Just go." Merlin snapped at him as he pulled the back door open and shoved Arthur out.

"Fucking cock tease." Arthur spat at him before having the door slammed in his face.

He kicked the door in anger before storming down the back garden and slipping out through the gate. Leaning against a lamp-post, he took a few moments to compose himself. Finally, his erection abated and he continued on down the street.

Having Merlin touch him had felt so good even if it was through the material of his jeans. For a few fleeting moments he had revelled in the pleasure thinking that perhaps Merlin could return his feels. Then Lance-a-fucking-lot had to turn up and ruin it. On top of all that, Merlin had then kicked Arthur out of his house as if he was a dirty little secret.

The blonde was half tempted to turn back round and tell Lancelot exactly what had just happened between Merlin and himself but he knew it wasn't worth it. He had only just begun to earn Merlin's friendship back and he didn't want to risk ruining that more than he already had.

As he neared his home, Arthur decided to just forget about the whole thing. He wouldn't apologise to Merlin because in his opinion he hadn't done anything wrong. It was Merlin who placed his hand between his legs and rubbed his cock, Arthur didn't force him to. If anyone should apologise it should be Merlin.

Taking out his key, Arthur unlocked the front door to his house before stepping inside. Not saying a word to his father, he headed up to his bedroom before immersing himself in his homework.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review **

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	14. Thinking of Arthur

**Disclaimer-I do not own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone**

**Chapter 13-Thinking of Arthur **

**Merlin's POV**

For the remainder of the weekend, Merlin had been dreading school on Monday morning. After what had happened the dark-haired boy didn't know how he would be able to face Arthur. Guilt gnawed at his insides constantly and every time someone looked at him he felt as if they knew what he'd done.

As he walked to school he seriously considered skiving for the day but he'd have to face Arthur sooner or later so there was no point prolonging the inevitable. He made his way through the gates and met up with Freya and Gwen.

"What have you done?" Freya asked the moment she saw him.

"What do you mean?" He squeaked.

"I don't know." Freya shrugged whilst Gwen looked between the two with an expression of confusion. "You just look guilty about something."

"Guilty about what?" Morgana asked nosily as she came up behind Merlin making the boy jump in alarm.

"Nothing." Merlin lied. "I haven't done anything."

"Maybe we should just head to class." Gwen suggested.

"Good idea Gwen." Merlin said approvingly as he took hold of her arm. "Let's go."

He then dragged Gwen behind him as he made his way to the school building leaving two very suspicious girls behind.

**Freya's POV**

"He's done something." Freya and Morgana said together.

"We just need to find out what." Morgana frowned.

"I'm guessing it has something to do with either Arthur or Lancelot." Freya said. "Maybe even both."

"I'll talk to Arthur." Morgana told her. "If he knows something then I'll be able to get it out of him."

As soon as the words had left her lips they spotted the blonde entering through the school gates.

"Well there he is." Freya pointed out.

"Leave it to me." Morgana replied confidently. "I'll find out what's going on."

"Good luck." Freya called after her as the raven haired girl made her way determinedly towards Arthur.

She watched the two from afar and saw Arthur hang his head low. She then watched as Morgana took the boy's arm and dragged him to a secluded area.

Turning around, Freya headed towards the school entrance doors. On her way she bumped into Will. They said hello to one another and chatted about their weekends as they stepped inside. Their first lesson was on the top floor so Freya led the way up the stairs.

As she climbed she had the shrewd suspicion that Will was looking up her skirt as he walked a few steps below her. The brunette girl found herself flushing at the thought of Will possibly checking out the view of her rear. She was just grateful she was wearing proper panties that day and not a thong.

When they had climbed the last of the stairs, Freya turned to her friend and saw that the boy had a happy grin on his face. That expression was enough for her to be sure that Will had indeed been looking up her skirt.

As they walked, Will draped an arm lazily across her shoulder. She looked up at him trying to quirk her eyebrow like she imagined Morgana would do, although she didn't think she managed to pull it off. He simply smiled down at her before dipping his head and licking the side of her face.

"Will!" She exclaimed shoving him away from her and wiping her face. "You're disgusting."

"But you still love me right." He replied with a laugh as he nudged her ribs playfully.

"Like I love toothache." Freya replied sarcastically.

Will just sniggered at her as they reached the door to their classroom. As she leaned against the wall, he stood in front of her placing one hand on the wall beside her head. He was breathing heavier than normal, his breath tickling her face.

"What are you doing?" She asked coyly as he continued to stare down at her.

"Looking down your top." Will admitted with a shrug.

Blushing slightly, Freya brought her hands up to fasten her top two shirt buttons. Will pulled a face of disappointment before moving to slouch beside her against the wall rather than standing in front of her. They were standing close enough so that their arms brushed and Freya felt a tingling sensation shoot up her arm.

She didn't understand Will some times. Although in truth, Freya just didn't understand boys. On occasion, Will would be flirty and suggestive. Other times he would be rude and dismissive. There were moments when he looked at her and Freya felt as though she was the most beautiful girl in the world. Then there was also times when she'd catch him ogling another girl and she'd feel insignificant.

There had even been a few times when Freya had felt certain he would lean in and kiss her but it never happened. She let out a sigh and he cast her a questioning look as he scratched his balls.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"Not at all." Freya answered moodily before turning her back to him.

"Ok, what have I done?" Will groaned.

"Never mind." She snarled at him.

"If this is because I was looking down your top then I'm sorry." Will told her. "Your tits aren't that nice anyway."

Freya let out an indignant huff and shot him a glare Morgana would be proud off before storming down the corridor towards the girls' toilets. She really didn't understand Will. First he was checking her out on the stairs then again in the corridor, not to mention that he licked her face which was just plain weird and then the boy was insulting her.

"I don't like William like that anyway." Freya said aloud to herself as she fixed her hair in the mirror. "He always looks scruffy, I don't think he's _ever _combed his hair, I know for a fact he picks his nose and he has smelly feet."

**Morgana's POV**

To say Morgana was surprised to discover the truth from Arthur would be an understatement. She was completely shocked by Merlin being so forward. The boy looked so innocent that she simply couldn't imagine him feeling Arthur up on the sofa when she and Gwen were in the next room. There was also the fact that Merlin was in a relationship with Lancelot. Even though Morgana wanted Merlin to be with Arthur she never would have imagined that the dark-haired boy would cheat on Lancelot.

"Does it even count as cheating?" Morgana wondered out loud.

"What?" Arthur asked.

"Merlin touching you up." Morgana whispered. "Does that count as him cheating on Lancelot?"

Arthur just shrugged miserably as he scuffed his shoes on the ground.

"It doesn't really matter." Arthur said. "He clearly regretted it. He was probably just using me for practice to make sure he'd be able to properly satisfy darling Lancelot."

"Arthur you know that's not true." Morgana told him. "Merlin isn't like that."

Arthur merely shrugged again before looking skyward and letting out a long sigh. He dropped his eyes back down to meet hers and forced on a brave smile before heading towards the school building just as the bell rang.

She took three quick long strides to catch up with him and they walked to their lesson together side by side. On the way, Valiant barged past Arthur sending him into Morgana who consequently bashed her elbow on the wall.

"Fuck!" She swore glaring hard at Valiant as she took a few furious steps towards him but Arthur held her back.

"Gana leave it." Arthur told her quietly as Valiant scampered off round the corner laughing shrilly.

"Morgana are you ok?" A concerned voice asked and Morgana looked round to find Leon's kind face looking down at her.

"I don't know." Morgana lied clutching her arm. "My arm really hurts."

"Really?" Arthur asked with an amused grin.

"Yes. Really." She replied sending him a glare.

"Let me see." Leon said and Morgana pulled her sleeve back to expose her china skin. "I think you're ok." He told her. "I don't see any mark."

"Oh but it really hurts." Morgana insisted. "It's sooo painful."

"That's funny considering it was your other arm that hit the wall." Arthur spoke up.

Morgana stomped on his foot with her heel before giving up the pretence and pulling her sleeve back down.

"Ok, I'm perfectly fun." She huffed. "But thank you Leon, it was nice to know you cared."

"Of course I care." Leon told her. "Come on, I'll walk you to your lesson."

"That would be lovely." Morgana smiled as she handed the boy her bag to carry. "Bye Arthur."

"Fine, I'll just walk by myself then." Arthur called after her.

"You do that." She called back.

Morgana sat beside Leon in class and the two flirted more than they worked. However, she also took the time to send Merlin a note stating that she knew what had happened between him and Arthur. When Merlin received the note the tips of his large ears turned pink and he turned round to gape at her with his mouth ajar. He then snapped his mouth shut and turned back to face the front crumpling the note in his hand and hiding it in his bag.

At break time, Morgana grabbed hold of Merlin and hauled him off to an empty question so they could talk. He shifted uncomfortably as she stared him down.

"It just happened." Merlin told her meekly. "It's not my fault Arthur got hard."

"No." Morgana agreed. "But it is your fault you groped him. He didn't make you do that."

"I know." Merlin sighed. "Look, can we just forget about it ok? I just want to pretend it never happened and please, don't tell Lancelot."

"You have to talk to Arthur." Morgana told him and Merlin looked horrified by the suggestion. "I also think you should end things with Lancelot, clearly you don't care about him as much s you say you do, not if you feel up other boys when he'd not around."

"It was one time." Merlin said defensively. "I made a mistake. I'm not going to do anything like that again. Gana please, don't ruin this for me. I like Lancelot a lot. He makes me happy."

"Talk to Arthur." Morgana ordered. "At lunch. If you just talk to him then I won't say anything more about this. But if you don't then I'll tell Lancelot what you did."

She knew it was cruel to blackmail Merlin in such a way but Morgana did have an evil streak and she was quite proud of that.

"Fine." Merlin agreed realising he had no choice. "I'll talk to him."

"Good boy." Morgana complimented with a smile before exiting the room.

In her next lesson she sat with Gwen and Freya and Freya told them what Will had suggested about them finding a guy for Arthur to make Merlin jealous.

All three girls were very keen on the idea and excitedly listed off potential guys to hook Arthur up with. Guinevere was telling them about an older boy who lived down her street named Cedric when the teacher interrupted asking Gwen what was so interesting.

"I'm sorry sir." Gwen babbled. "We were just talking."

"I noticed." The teacher replied. "I do hope your discussion was more entertaining than my lesson."

"Oh it was." Gwen answered without thinking. "I mean…it was important but Geography's important too it's just a little boring. Oh…I don't mean that you're boring…well I usually do get bored but I just…I'll stop talking now."

The teacher frowned at her before sending her out of the room.

**Merlin's POV**

As requested by Morgana, Merlin spoke to Arthur at lunch. The two found an empty classroom and stood across from each other both looking in different directions.

"I'm sorry about what happened." Merlin said quickly. "It was a mistake so let's just forget about it."

"Whatever." Arthur replied before sauntering out of the room.

Merlin ran a hand through his hair and let out a guilty sigh as the blonde left still feeling bad about what had happened. He could tell that Arthur was upset but there was no way for him to undo what he did. It was better for everyone if they just forgot about the incident and never mentioned it again.

After school that day, Lancelot was waiting for Merlin by the gate perched on his motorbike.

"Oh look, lover boy's waiting for you." Arthur sneered. "How sweet."

"Grow up Arthur." Merlin told him.

"You two had better not start fighting again." Morgana warned them.

"We wouldn't have to fight if he wasn't such a prat." Merlin scoffed.

Arthur opened his mouth to retort but Morgana shushed him before he could make voice.

"Just stop it the pair of you." She said. "You're behaving like a pair of five year olds."

"I'll see you tomorrow." Merlin told them.

"I bet my cock's bigger than his." Arthur whispered in Merlin's ear as the dark-haired boy walked by.

Pretending to ignore the blonde, Merlin hurried over to Lancelot meeting the older teen in a kiss.

"My mum's out." Merlin informed him. "Come back to mine?"

"Sure." Lancelot agreed as he handed his spare helmet to Merlin.

As soon as the eighteen year old pulled up outside Merlin's house, Merlin was off the motorbike and dragging Lancelot up to the door. Once inside he led him up to his bedroom then pressed his body against his kissing him passionately. He was then guiding Lancelot towards the bed and settling himself on top of his grinding his hips down against his.

Lancelot let out a deep throaty groan at the feel and tossed his head back against the pillows giving the younger teen access to his neck. Merlin licked and sucked before moving back to his boyfriend's face and engaging him in another kiss.

"Merlin." Lancelot moaned.

Merlin pulled back and looked down at the boy beneath him. Smiling slightly he kissed him again and as he did his mind conjured up Arthur's face. Shocked by his train of thought, Merlin pulled away again.

"Are you alright?" Lancelot asked him stroking the boy's hair fondly.

"I'm fine." Merlin told him with a bright smile.

He leaned down to kiss Lancelot again and this time he brought a hand to the older teen's crotch. Groaning, Lancelot bucked his hips upwards clearly enjoying Merlin's ministrations.

"Let me tough you." Merlin begged moving his hands to Lancelot's belt.

At first Lancelot looked hesitant but the look on Merlin's face one him over and he allowed the younger boy to push down his jeans and free his cock from the confines of his pants. Merlin wrapped his fingers around the organ and awkwardly pumped up and down before slowly gaining more confidence.

Growing bolder still, Merlin moved his head down and took Lancelot's dick into his mouth. The older boy moaned and panted as he muttered words of encouragement. When his boyfriend warned him that he was about to cum, Merlin pulled his head away not wanting any of the white substance to enter his mouth.

He then looked to Lancelot's face and saw the older boy looking dishevelled. All Merlin could think of was how amazing Arthur would look in a similar state.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	15. Morgana the Vampire Slayer

**Disclaimer-I do not own Merlin or the BBC**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone, enjoy :D**

**Chapter 14-Morgana the Vampire Slayer **

**Arthur's POV**

The blonde still couldn't work out how he had been talked into this. He did consider just going home and hiding in his bedroom but the girls would never allow it. So it was that Friday afternoon, when school had finished, Arthur was on his way to the cinema to meet up with some guy that Gwen knew.

He thought it was a completely stupid idea and had flat-out refused the first time it had been suggested to him. For the past three days he had continued to decline the offer but somehow Morgana had convinced him to agree.

All he knew about the mystery guy was that he was seventeen years old and his name was Cedric. Although Arthur hadn't met the guy yet he had already decided that he didn't like him. The girls had explained how him being with Cedric would make Merlin jealous but Arthur still thought it was a dumb plan.

He arrived at the cinema about five minutes late. This wasn't his idea after all so he didn't want to seem eager. He spotted Gwen stood outside accompanied by Morgana and an older boy who he assumed was Cedric. The seventeen year old was scrawny with pasty skin, brown hair, a large nose and a surprisingly thick moustache for one so young. He didn't even have a nice bum. No, Arthur definitely didn't like him.

"Arthur, over here!" Morgana called waving the blonde over.

Shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, Arthur strutted over and felt Cedric eyeing him up approvingly. He couldn't blame the guy of course, he knew he was gorgeous but that didn't mean he fancied the guy back.

"Arthur, this is my friend Cedric." Gwen introduced with a bright smile. "Cedric this is Arthur."

"Nice to meet you." Cedric said in an oily voice as he moved forwards to give the blonde a one-armed hug.

"You too." Arthur replied as he patted the older teen on the back awkwardly.

"Well then, we'll just leave you to it." Morgana said happily. "Have fun boys."

Arthur paled slightly and shot Morgana a desperate look pleading with her to stay but she simply smirked in response before linking arms with Gwen and wandering off. Suppressing the groan that so wanted to escape his lips, Arthur turned back to face Cedric.

"After you handsome." Cedric said holding the door open for Arthur and gesturing for him to step inside first.

"Thanks." Arthur mumbled half-heartedly.

If the girls insisted on setting him up with someone they could have at least found someone attractive who wasn't such a dork. They made their way to the cinema screen as the girls had already bought the tickets and given them to Cedric. To Arthur's annoyance they were seeing some sappy girly film.

They entered the theatre where the film was being shown and Arthur cast his eyes around in search of available seats. As he scanned the rows his sight landed upon Merlin sat beside Lancelot, the older male's arm wrapped around the younger with a barrel of popcorn between them.

Grabbing Cedric's hand, Arthur led the way to the spare seats beside the dark-haired couple. He suspected that the girls knew Merlin would be here with Lancelot and sending him and Cedric into the same film was obviously part of their plan.

"Mind if we join you?" Arthur asked politely.

Merlin looked uncomfortable and shifted slightly before peering up at Lancelot.

"Of course." Lancelot smiled gesturing for the two boys to sit.

"This is Cedric by the way." Arthur told the other two and Cedric offered a smile and extended his hand.

"Good to meet you, I'm Lancelot." Lancelot said politely shaking the moustached teen's hand.

"Merlin." Merlin stated without shaking Cedric's hand.

He then leaned closer to Lancelot after shooting a scowl at Cedric. Noticing this, Arthur cuddled up to Cedric and let a smirk form on his lips. Perhaps the girls weren't being so ridiculous after all; it was painfully obvious that Merlin was jealous.

Though Cedric and Lancelot became absorbed in the movie Arthur paid it very little attention. He much preferred to do little things like place his hand on Cedric's thigh or lean in to whisper something in his ear just to see Merlin's features contort into a mixture of anger and envy.

Part way through the movie, Arthur took a trip to the toilet and he made sure that Merlin saw him rub himself against Cedric lightly as he climbed over his lap to get past.

Shortly after entering the men's toilets Merlin caught up with him and dragged the blonde into an empty stall locking the door shut behind them.

"Don't tell me you still haven't learned how to pee on your own." Arthur drawled as he arched an eyebrow in amusement and placed his hands on his hips.

"Shut up." Merlin retaliated.

"Ooh, snappy comeback." Arthur said sarcastically.

"What are you doing here?" Merlin asked him as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Cedric and I are on a date." Arthur answered with a shrug.

"A date." Merlin echoed scathingly. "With that scarecrow?"

"What's it to you?" Arthur retorted. "Not everything is about looks and we can't all be as dashing as the oh-so-great Lancelot."

"The guy has a moustache." Merlin pointed out referring to Cedric. "Not a sexy bit of stubble, an actual moustache. I mean, Arthur come on, it looks like a dead squirrel resting on his upper lip."

"Facial hair turns me on." Arthur lied. "Now do you mind leaving so I can take a piss? Or do you want to see my cock?"

"You're disgusting." Merlin told him before exiting the stall.

Smirking to himself, Arthur locked the door again and did his business completely missing the toilet bowl and emptying his bladder over the seat instead.

**Merlin's POV**

Muttering to himself about infuriating blondes and stupid moustached teenagers, Merlin made his way back to the movie theatre. He walked through the aisle then climbed the steps before turning onto the row Lancelot and Cedric were seated at. As he made his way back to his seat he deliberately crushed Cedric's foot giving him a fake apology before sitting back beside Lancelot.

Lancelot wrapped an arm around him and Merlin reached his hand across for a handful of popcorn just as Arthur was making his way back over to them.

Out of the corner of his eye, Merlin saw how Arthur pressed himself close against Cedric as he moved back to his seat. The blonde then turned to smirk at him before leaning against the older boy. Scowling, Merlin moodily chomped on his popcorn imagining it was Cedric's head he was mutilating with his teeth.

He felt Arthur shift beside him then the blonde stretched across his lap to grab a handful of popcorn. Merlin then watched contemptuously as Arthur fed the pieces to Cedric, the older teen's lips and tongue lingering around Arthur's fingers each time.

Seeing the two of them together really aggravated Merlin. Not because he was jealous or anything. It was just obvious that Cedric didn't really care about Arthur. The older boy was just using him. He didn't know anything about Arthur and he definitely wasn't right for him. The blonde deserved someone better, someone without a hideous moustache.

By the time the film ended, Merlin was ready to latch his fingers around Cedric's throat and strangle him to death.

The four males left the cinema together and stepped out to find that it was raining.

"I'm going to call a taxi." Lancelot said as he took out his phone; he hadn't driven his motorbike that day. "I have to get to work. Will you three get home ok?"

"I have a bus to catch." Cedric answered. "I'd better get going or I'll miss it. I had a great time Arthur."

"Me too." Arthur told him and he hugged the older boy and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. "We should do it again some time."

"Definitely." Cedric agreed eagerly before nodding a farewell to Lancelot and Merlin then jogging over to the bus stop.

"Call me later." Merlin said to Lancelot and he nodded before the two shared a kiss, Arthur pointedly looked away.

When Lancelot had climbed into the back of a taxi Merlin and Arthur started walking together keeping their heads down and squinting their eyes to see through the pouring rain.

Merlin hugged his arms around his slender body as the cold rain caused him to shiver. All he wore was a thin long-sleeved t-shirt and the fabric was so wet it was clinging to his skin almost looking as though it had been spray-painted on.

"Have you never heard of a coat Merlin?" Arthur asked him condescendingly. "Honestly, you have to be the most idiotic dweeb I have ever met."

"I'd rather be an idiot than a prat." Merlin replied as he checked the road before crossing, stepping into a large puddle when he reached the other side.

They passed under a tree and a large drop of rain fell down the back of Merlin's neck making him yelp in shock and causing Arthur to laugh.

"Shut up." He snapped as he elbowed the blonde in the stomach.

In response, Arthur pulled Merlin into a headlock and ruffled his damp raven locks. Grumbling in annoyance, Merlin grabbed hold of Arthur's hand and bit down into the skin causing the blonde to shriek and promptly let him go.

"Ouch! Bloody hell Emrys." Arthur complained as he massaged his hand. "You're a bit too old to still be playing vampires."

"But Arthur, you used to _love _playing vampires." Merlin teased. "Not as much as you enjoyed wearing Morgana's dresses though."

Arthur glared at him slightly before speeding up and Merlin had to jog to keep up with him. His eyes dropped to admire Arthur's backside for a second or two before he fell in to step beside the blonde thinking about the times when they were younger and 'vampires' had been one of their favourite games.

_They were nine years old and they were sneaking around Morgana's back garden. Both Merlin and Arthur had a set of fake fangs in their mouths and they were wearing a black bin bag tied around their shoulders like a cape. _

_Then there was Morgana chasing after them with a wooden stake in her hand claiming that she would slay them. _

_As Merlin watched, Arthur and Morgana had a pretend fight and Morgana the Vampire Slayer drove the stake through Arthur's heart and he pretended to turn into dust._

_Morgana then rushed over to Merlin and they had a pretend fight before Merlin was killed too. _

_As soon as it was over they started again. This time, Morgana and Arthur were the vampires and Merlin was the slayer. First he took out Morgana but he couldn't fight off Arthur. The blonde vampire knocked his weapon out of his hands and pulled Merlin towards him exposing his neck. He sunk his teeth deep into Merlin's throat draining his blood. _

_At least they did until Uther was led into the back garden by the LeFay's calling for Arthur to get ready and leave. _

"_Oh please Mr. Pendragon." Morgana pleaded as she smiled sweetly at him whilst twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "Let us just play one more game. I want to be the slayer again. You can play too if you like. You could be my watcher, every slayer needs a watcher."_

_Of course, Uther had stated that he was far too busy and barked at Arthur to hurry up. _

Returning to the present, Merlin felt that he could actually pass for a vampire given the coldness of his skin and his pale complexion. At some point his teeth had started chattering.

"Here." Arthur said to him gently stripping off his leather jacket and draping it across Merlin's shoulders.

"No don't, I'm fine." Merlin told him but the blonde was already forcing his arms into the sleeves and zipping the jacket up. "Thanks."

"That's what friends are for right?" Arthur asked as they continued to walk on through the rain. "Anyway, it looks good on you. I mean it _does _look better on _me _but you pull it off well enough."

Merlin just grinned goofily as he lightly barged the blonde again. Arthur laughed before draping an arm across the dark-haired boy's shoulders. He allowed the contact and they made it to Merlin's house laughing and joking about their childhood.

"I had fun today." Merlin told Arthur as they stood on the doorstep.

"Yeah, me too." Arthur smiled. "Cedric and I should come out with you and Lancelot more often."

"Right, Cedric and Lancelot." Merlin said having completely forgotten about watching the movie with them for a few moments but his dislike for Cedric soon returned to him. "I can't believe you're dating that creep."

"Well I can't believe you're dating pretty-boy Lancelot." Arthur retaliated somewhat defensively.

"Don't talk about him like that." Merlin snapped. "At least what I have with Lancelot is actually real. We know each other and we care about each other. Cedric clearly doesn't care about you. He's only with you for your looks and your money. You have to end it with him."

"I don't have to do anything." Arthur responded darkly. "Now if you don't mind I'd like my jacket back."

"I don't want you seeing Cedric." Merlin told him.

"That's not your decision." Arthur replied. "Mate." He added making the word sound like a derogatory insult.

"Fine. Stay with the freak." Merlin said as he threw the leather jacket back at Arthur. "See if I care."

He then stormed into his house slamming the door in Arthur's face.

**To Be Continued**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	16. Love Bites

**Disclaimer-I do not own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone, keep 'em coming : )**

**Chapter 15-Love Bites **

**Morgana's POV**

Things were tense between Merlin and Arthur. Everyone could tell. Clearly the cinema trip hadn't gone quite the way she and the other girls had hoped. She had asked both boys about it but neither of them gave a sufficient answer which infuriated her to no end. Normally she was able to persuade, trick or manipulate the two boys into doing and telling her what she wanted but not this time. In this situation both boys were remaining tight-lipped.

To make matters worse, Merlin had wandered into school on Monday morning sporting an unmistakeable love bite on his throat. Rather than cover it up, he made sure it was visible at all times no doubt trying to annoy Arthur, something he easily succeeded in.

"You should see Cedric again." Morgana told the blonde during science class. "Get a love bite from him. That'll make Merlin jealous."

"Gana that's just childish." Arthur replied. "Besides, I have no desire whatsoever to have Cedric's bristly moustache anywhere near my mouth or neck."

"Come on, Cedric's kind of cute." Morgana said.

Arthur shot her a disbelieving look.

"What? He is." Morgana insisted. "You know… if you squint your eyes so he looks like an undistinguishable blur."

"I don't even like the guy." Arthur told her. "And I'm not going to use him to try and get Merlin. In fact, I don't think I'm even going to see Cedric again."

"You will." She replied. "You have to."

"Can't we find a good-looking guy for me to make Merlin jealous with?" Arthur asked.

"Stop being so picky." Morgana scolded him. "Cedric will do just fine. I'll arrange for the two of you to meet up tomorrow. He can give you a love bite then."

"I've already told you that I don't want him giving me a love bite." Arthur said exasperatedly.

"Fine, fine." Morgana sighed.

She made some notes in her work book before turning to Arthur and looking intently at his neck.

"Oh no, what are you planning?" Arthur asked apprehensively. "Whatever it is, the answer's no."

"Arthur." Morgana said sweetly and Arthur groaned knowing that particular tone of voice meant trouble. "Have you seen Merlin today?"

"No." Arthur answered cautiously. "I won't see him until last lesson when we have English."

"Perfect." Morgana smiled.

She looked about the room and when she was sure nobody was spying on them she deliberately dropped her pen on the floor.

"Woops, clumsy me." She laughed. "Think you could pick that up for me Arthur?"

"Do it yourself." He told her.

"Arthur." Morgana said in a slightly threatening voice. "Pick it up… now."

With a huff, Arthur bent down under the desk to retrieve the pen and Morgana moved down with him. Clasping a hand over the blonde's mouth, Morgana leaned in and attached her lips to his neck. She bit down and sucked on the flesh before pulling away and proudly admiring her work.

"There." Morgana smiled as she moved back onto her stool. "Now, if anyone asks, just say it's from Cedric."

"You know LeFay, I don't think I've ever truly appreciated just how incredibly twisted you are." Arthur told her as he rubbed his neck over the fresh love bite.

"Thank you." Morgana replied taking it as a compliment before returning to her work.

**Merlin's POV**

On Monday morning he had deliberately showed off his love bite in Arthur's face. Since then, he had been avoiding the blonde as much as possible. He spent his breaks hiding in the library and always made sure Arthur had left the canteen before he went to get his lunch.

So on Thursday it wasn't until English last period that he properly saw Arthur. As soon as he entered the classroom his eyes were instantly drawn to the attractive blonde. His eyes landed upon Arthur's throat and he immediately noticed the love bite marring his skin. He sneered at the sight feeling a sudden desire to hit something.

Making his way through the room he made to take his seat beside Freya but Sophia slipped into it before him.

"Um… that's my seat." Merlin said.

"I'm sitting here today." Sophia told him with a smile. "You can sit at the back with Arthur."

Scowling slightly Merlin looked to Freya but she had her eyes down on her book. He then turned round to look over at Morgana and Gwen who pretended not to notice them. He realised that the girls had planned this and it seemed they had gotten Sophia involved.

"Hurry up and sit down Merlin." Miss Read told him. "The seat beside Arthur is free."

Restraining himself from glaring at the woman he made his way to the book and slumped moodily into the chair beside Arthur. It then occurred to him that he could have taken Sophia's usual seat but as he looked towards her usual desk he found that the chair was missing and he was sure it wasn't a coincidence.

Looking to his left slightly, Merlin was once again greeted with the sight of the hickey on Arthur's neck. As though the blonde felt him staring at it, Arthur stretched his neck and tilted it to the side giving Merlin an even better view.

"You should cover that." Merlin whispered to him gesturing to the blemish. "It makes you look like a slut."

"Yeah?" Arthur asked with a raised eyebrow. "Look who's talking." He then reached a hand up and lightly fingered Merlin's own love bite.

Merlin's eyes fluttered shut at the barely-there touch and he sucked in a breath before coughing awkwardly and edging away from Arthur. He heard the other boy snigger at him slightly but he chose to ignore it as he picked his pen up and busied himself with copying notes off the board.

**Arthur's POV**

Part way through the lesson, Arthur decided to have a little fun with the dark-haired boy. As Morgana had done earlier in their Science class, Arthur deliberately dropped his pen on the floor. Ducking down he picked it up whilst placing one hand on Merlin's thigh very close to the pale boy's penis.

He felt the muscles in Merlin's legs tense and he heard the hint of a whimper escape the boy's lips. Moving back up, Arthur gently brushed his hand over Merlin's cock before sitting up straight and looking as innocent as he knew how.

Sensing Merlin's affronted glare, Arthur turned to him and smirked before bringing his pen to his mouth and sucking on the end in a very suggestive manner.

A tinge of pink took hostage of Merlin's cheeks and he shifted in his seat uncomfortably for a few moments before storming out of the room making a hasty excuse of needing the toilet.

As the door slammed behind the dark-haired boy, Arthur dropped the pen from his mouth and focused on his work for a while. Five minutes later, Merlin still hadn't returned and Arthur was starting to worry. He bit his lower lip before catching Miss Read's eye. The woman seemed to understand his concern and gave him a brief nod permitting him to leave.

He moved quickly through the tables then exited the room. He jogged down the corridor and entered the nearest boys' toilets hoping that Merlin was in there and that everything was alright.

Upon stepping inside, he found Merlin standing at the sink splashing water onto his face. Hearing Arthur enter, Merlin looked up and saw the blonde reflected in the mirror.

"Are you ok?" Arthur asked stepping closer to the slender boy.

"Fine." Merlin replied shortly.

Arthur moved to stand beside him and made to rest a hand on the boy's shoulder but upon receiving Merlin's glare he opted against it and scratched the back of his neck instead.

"Are you coming back to class?" Arthur asked him.

"Don't feel like it." He answered. "I'll ask Freya to help me catch up whatever I've missed after school."

"So, you're not seeing Lancelot today then?" Arthur asked.

"He's working." Merlin told him. "Not that it's any of your business. What about Cedric, are you seeing him tonight?"

"No." Arthur said honestly. "But I'll probably be seeing him tomorrow… not that it's any of your business." He added echoing Merlin's words.

Turning round slightly, Merlin folded his arms across his chest. Arthur noticed how his blue orbs once again strayed to the love bite on his throat, the one Merlin believed to be from Cedric though it was really from Morgana. The dark-haired boy sneered as he eyed the hickey with distaste.

"I don't want you seeing Cedric." He said.

"Well that's not your decision." Arthur retorted. "You might not want me but Cedric does. So get used to it."

"Well maybe I do want you." Merlin spoke up as he dropped his arms to his sides.

"Yeah?" Arthur asked stepping closer to the other teen so that their chests were brushing against each other. "Are you going to dump Lancelot then?"

Merlin stayed quiet and dropped his eyes to the floor.

"I didn't think so." Arthur said before stepping away and turning to leave the bathroom. He took his time opening the door and stepping out in case Merlin called him back but he never did.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	17. Home Video

**Disclaimer-I do not own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone, enjoy**

**Chapter 16-Home Video **

**Freya's POV**

After school, Freya had gone round Merlin's house to help him catch up with his English work. So far, they had done very little studying. It seemed that Merlin was more interested in pacing the length of his room complaining about Arthur.

"Just who does he think he is?" Merlin asked rhetorically as he threw his hands in the air in frustration. "Ooh look at me, I'm Arthur Pendragon." He mimicked as he swaggered about doing a very poor imitation of the blonde. "I think I'm better than everyone else and I can do what I want because I'm sexy."

"Arthur doesn't think he's better than everyone else." Freya defended. "Honestly Merlin, you're making a fuss over nothing. It's good that you think Arthur's sexy though."

"What? I don't think he's sexy." Merlin said quickly.

"But you just said he was." Freya pointed out as she smiled at him in amusement.

Merlin let out a groan before banging his head against the wall repeatedly.

"Um… Merlin I don't think you should do that." Freya told him.

"Why couldn't Arthur have just stayed an asshole?" Merlin whined. "Why did he have to stand up in English and say he loved me? Why does he have to be so damn good-looking? Why is he such a prat? And for fuck sake, why is he dating that scarecrow? Honestly, have you met this Cedric guy?"

"No." Freya replied with a shrug. "What's so bad about him? From what I hear he sounds like a nice guy."

"He has a moustache." Merlin exclaimed.

"So?" Freya laughed. "Having a moustache doesn't make him a bad person. And Lancelot has stubble."

"Stubble's different." Merlin countered. "Stubble is acceptable; it's sexy… but a moustache… that's repulsive."

"Well obviously Arthur doesn't think so." Freya interjected.

She wasn't a fool; she knew perfectly well that Arthur had no interest in Cedric. Of course the whole point with Cedric was to make Merlin jealous and it was clearly working, Freya was just encouraging it further, adding fuel to the fire so to speak.

"What kind of seventeen year old creep dates a fifteen year old anyway?" Merlin asked derisively.

"I don't know." Freya replied. "What kind of _eighteen _year old dates a fifteen year old? You can't kick up a fuss about the age gap, not when your boyfriend is older than Arthur's."

"Cedric isn't Arthur's boyfriend." Merlin snapped. "They don't even know each other. They've only been on one date. That doesn't class as a relationship."

"Well it seems like Arthur is really into Cedric." Freya lied. "Morgana says that Cedric was all Arthur could talk about in Science."

At her words Merlin kicked his bedroom door in anger before whimpering and hopping up and down as pain shot up his foot. He hobbled over to the bed and sank down beside her massaging his aching toe.

"Why don't you just face the truth?" She asked him gently. "Arthur's crazy about you and you can deny it as much as you want but I know you have feelings for him too."

"Yeah, feelings of revulsion." Merlin sniped though there was no real malice behind his words.

"Merlin." Freya sighed. "You invited me here to help you catch up with English but so far all you've done is talk about Arthur. Arthur, not Lancelot. Doesn't that tell you anything?"

"Ok, so I have feelings for Arthur." Merlin admitted collapsing onto his bed pulling a pillow over his face. He said something else but his words were muffled by the pillow. Leaning towards him, Freya pulled the pillow off of his face and asked him to repeat himself. "I said, even though I have feelings for Arthur I care about Lancelot as well."

"But who do you care about more?" Freya asked him. "Because you can't have both."

"Arthur could hurt me." Merlin said quietly. "I mean really hurt me. Do you have any idea how scary that is? At the moment I'm in control. What ever feelings I have, I can ignore them. But if I let these feelings develop and tried working things out with Arthur then they'd be no way to ignore those feelings or all the hurt and pain that would undoubtedly come if he hurt me."

"The people we love are often the ones who are able to hurt us the most." Freya told him wisely. "Like when Arthur bullied you, it hurt more than Valiant's bullying because you cared about Arthur in ways that you would never care about Valiant. But even though the people we love have the power to hurt us, it doesn't matter, because the people who love us back won't hurt us."

"He already has hurt me." Merlin pointed out.

"You've hurt him too." Freya said reasonably. "When he sees you with Lancelot or hears you speak about him it kills Arthur. I know it does, I see the look on his face, that's exactly how I feel when… um, never mind."

"No go on." Merlin encouraged her sitting up.

"That's how I feel whenever Will looks at another girl." Freya admitted flushing slightly.

"You fancy Will?" Merlin asked her with a quirked eyebrow and a queasy smile.

"Merlin Emrys if you dare tell anyone I'll… I'll… set Morgana on you." Freya threatened.

"Secret's safe." He assured her. "But seriously, Will?"

"Shut up." Freya huffed before attacking the boy with a pillow.

***

Eventually, the pair managed to get some work done and Merlin walked Freya home. On her doorstep, he suggested that she just tell Will how she really felt about him.

She told him she'd think about it then let herself into her house and said goodbye to him. Up in her room, she phoned Will a number of times before losing her nerve and hanging up again. By the seventh call, she felt brave enough to at least talk to him. They were friends after all so there was nothing weird about her calling just to have a chat.

It took a while for the boy to answer and when he did his breathing sounded irregular and there was odd background noise.

"Will, what are you doing?" Freya asked as she strained to make out what the weird noises were.

"Um… j-just watching T.V." Will answered. "Y-you?"

"Nothing." Freya replied. A series of feminine and masculine moans reached her ears. "You're watching porn aren't you?" She asked.

"Err… no." Will lied.

Listening harder Freya could make out another type of sound and she pulled a face as she realised what was going on down the other end of the phone.

"You're masturbating as well aren't you?" Freya said. "You're really disgusting sometimes do you know that." She then hung up before heading downstairs to ask her mum when dinner would be ready.

**Weekend Lancelot's POV**

He had been persuaded by Merlin to spend the day round Morgana's house. It wasn't something Lancelot would have chosen to do in his spare time, Morgana scared him a little, but it was what Merlin wanted so he had agreed.

A few of Merlin and Morgana's school friends were also there. Gwen was round along with Arthur and Cedric. The six of them had made themselves comfortable in Morgana's living-room to watch a DVD. After the initial arguments of what film to watch they all eventually came to an agreement on the movie 'King Arthur' starring Clive Owen and Keira Knightley.

"This isn't fair." Morgana complained part way through. "This film has an Arthur, a Lancelot, a Guinevere and a Merlin but no Morgana."

"There's no Cedric either." Cedric piped up.

"So." Morgana scoffed. "Who cares about a Cedric? There's a Cedric in Harry Potter what more do you want? This stupid movie should have a Morgana; she's one of the most interesting characters in Arthurian legend."

"If it makes you feel any better Guinevere's often a bit of a slut." Gwen said hoping to cheer up her friend. "She marries Arthur but betrays him by having an affair with Lancelot who is often depicted as Arthur's best friend."

"And Merlin's nearly always some old guy with a white beard." Merlin told her.

"Arthur's always awesome." Arthur spoke up smugly. "Strong, brave and handsome. He's the perfect guy really."

"Then it's no wonder Guinevere went for Lancelot." Morgana said. "If Arthur was so perfect he must have been gay and unable to satisfy his Lady in the bedroom department."

The two girls giggled whilst the boy's rolled their eyes. A few minutes later Morgana declared she was bored of the movie and scrambled up to put another disc in.

"We had this on video." She explained to them all. "But we transferred it to DVD."

Shifting himself into a comfier position Lancelot fixed his eyes on the screen. From the looks of things it was a recording of one of Morgana's play dates with Merlin and Arthur. Mrs. LeFay and Hunith appeared on screen a few times but it was mostly the three children. Mr. LeFay was filming.

The younger versions of Merlin, Arthur and Morgana were running about the very same living-room the fifteen year old versions were now sitting in. On the television screen, the children were dancing around to music and singing at the top of their voices.

Young Morgana moved right up to the camcorder and pressed a kiss to the lens. Giggling, she moved back and Merlin span her around before Arthur dipped her down low then pulled her up again.

As they watched the clip, Lancelot turned to the side to look at Merlin and found that his boyfriend had a happy smile upon his face as he watched. He then turned to look at Arthur who looked a little embarrassed by his younger self's behaviour but happy none the less. Lancelot also noticed the brief look the two fifteen year old boys shared before looking back to the television screen, their smiles notably wider.

At first, Lancelot didn't take the small exchange between Merlin and Arthur to be anything significant. However, when young T.V Morgana had Merlin and Arthur pretend to get married Lancelot started o question just how deep the two boys' relationship really was.

On the screen, Arthur and Morgana disappeared for a few moments and when they returned Arthur was wearing one of Morgana's dresses and had a tiara perched on his head. Morgana then handed Arthur the flowers from her mother's vase.

A grinning Morgana skipped towards her father before talking directly to the camera as if she was a T.V presenter or a movie star.

"Ladies and Gentlemen." Morgana said spreading her arms out in a welcoming gesture. "I am pleased to invite you to the wedding of Merlin Emrys and Arthur Pendragon." She applauded before moving out of the way of the shot.

Merlin was standing at one end of the room as Arthur walked towards him with the bouquet of flowers in his hands. They stood beside each other then held hands as they faced the camera. Off screen, Morgana's voice could be heard instructing the two boys what to say.

"I Merlin take you Arthur to be my wife." Merlin recited.

"Do you love him?" Morgana asked excitedly though she was not in view.

"I do." Merlin smiled as he swung his and Arthur's conjoined hands back and forth.

"I Arthur take you Merlin to be my husband." Arthur said.

"Do you love him?" Morgana asked with a giggle.

"I do." Arthur answered softly.

Looking at the T.V screen carefully, Lancelot could make out the light blush on Merlin's cheeks and see how Arthur stroked his thumb across the back of Merlin's hand.

A visibly delighted Morgana then skipped over to stand between the two boys. Clasping her hands together she held her head high before speaking.

"I know pronounce you boy and boy in a dress." She said. "Merlin, you may kiss the bride."

The two boys giggled and shared a small peck on the lips to which Morgana applauded enthusiastically.

The home video finished and Morgana clicked the T.V off.

Once again, Lancelot caught Merlin and Arthur making eye-contact. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, he excused himself to use the toilet. He knew it was only a small kiss between two young boys who were playing a silly game but somehow it seemed more than that.

The way young Merlin had looked at young Arthur was innocent but still incredibly intense. Lancelot could not recall Merlin ever looking at him with such intensity. There was definitely something between Merlin and Arthur, something more than friendship, and whatever it was, it was still there. Lancelot saw how the two fifteen year olds had looked at each other and he knew he couldn't come between that. To Merlin, he would never compare to Arthur.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	18. Memories of a Clumsy Merlin

**Disclaimer-I do not own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone**

**Happy Birthday to GothyShadow **

**Chapter 17-Memories of a Clumsy Merlin **

**Will's POV**

On Monday morning, Freya had outright ignored him and he couldn't understand why. He saw whispering secretively with Merlin a lot and the two would often glance over at him before Merlin would laugh and Freya would frown at him and sulk.

Though Freya spoke to him on Tuesday, Will detected something off about her behaviour. She was acting strange. Stranger than your typical female and she was still privately conversing with Merlin.

"Arthur, do you know what those two keep talking about?" Will asked the blonde.

Arthur looked to Will seemingly surprised the other boy was willingly speaking to him before shrugging his shoulders.

"Probably Lancelot." Arthur sneered.

"Jealousy really doesn't suit you dude." Will told him.

On Wednesday, Merlin and Freya walked into school together linking arms. As they stepped nearer to Will the dark-haired boy began to snigger slightly and the slender girl elbowed him in the ribs turning a little pink.

"Alright, what the hell is up with you two?" Will asked them annoyed that he didn't know.

"Nothing." Freya replied feebly as she hid her face behind her hair.

"Merlin, come on mate, tell me." Will implored.

"Sorry Will." Merlin sighed. "I'm sworn to secrecy."

Confused and irritated, Will just huffed before stalking away from his friends.

In his first lesson of the day he was sat beside Freya. Both were silent for a while but Will could only withstand being quiet for so long. He nudged her arm lightly and lied about needing help with his work. With soft eyes and a gentle smile, Freya twisted in her seat slightly and began to explain the work to him.

All too soon Will became distracted by the way her light-brown gloss shimmered in the light making her lips look shiny. His eyes zoned in on her mouth ignoring the words she was saying. His gaze dropped lower and judging by the two erect nipples that were visible through her school shirt, Freya was a little cold today.

"Why are you grinning like that?" Freya asked him bringing Will's attention back up to the girl's face.

"No reason." He answered as he fiddled with his ear.

"You didn't listen to a word I just said did you?" Freya asked knowingly as she turned back to her own book.

"Sorry Frey, I got distracted." Will told her.

"Whatever." She sighed clearly unimpressed with his excuse.

Her grip on her pen was tighter than usual and she was sitting up straighter than normal. That usually meant Freya was annoyed with something; more often than not it meant she was annoyed with him. Will actually found it kind of a turn-on that he could irritate her so often and so easily.

A few minutes later, Freya's pen ran out of ink and she let out a moan of frustration. To Will, the moan sounded more sexual than innocent and his mind was soon conjuring images of himself and Freya in a porn movie. Being a hormonal fifteen year old boy, Will's thought process soon left him with a slight problem between his legs.

He looked about the classroom briefly before using his jumper to hide his erection and quickly hobbling out of the classroom yelling to the teacher that he needed to take a shit.

After making it to the nearest bathroom, which actually happened to be one for the girls, Will locked himself in a toilet stall and tugged his trousers and pants down. He wrapped his fingers around his hard length and was soon pumping himself to orgasm as thoughts of Freya crossed through his mind.

When he emerged from the stall he was horribly embarrassed to find an amused looking Morgana standing before him with her hands on her hips and a raised eyebrow obviously completely aware of what he had just been up to.

"Morgana." He greeted before moving to the sink to wash his hands.

"William." She replied before opting to use the toilet stall beside the one he had been in and not the one he had used himself.

As he headed back to class, Will sincerely hoped that Morgana wouldn't tell anybody. However, his hopes were unanswered and by lunchtime everybody in the school seemed to know about his early morning masturbating session in the girls' lavatory.

**Merlin's POV**

For some reason, Merlin found himself with just Arthur for company on Thursday. Apparently, Morgana, Will, Freya and Gwen were all suffering with food poisoning having shared a meal the night before. He knew this wasn't true of course. It was no doubt one of Morgana's ploys to encourage him to spend time with Arthur.

So the two boys sat side by side in their shared lessons and stayed together at break and lunch. Break time had been somewhat tentative. The two had decided to go to the library where they had sat opposite one another pretending to read the books in front of them. Merlin's book was full of pictures and had very little writing and Arthur's book had been upside down. The two had simply pretended to be engrossed with the pages before them whilst they sneaked looks at one another when they thought the other wasn't looking.

At lunchtime, they selected their food and sat down together at their table. To begin with they avoided eye-contact and concentrated on their plates but after a few minutes Arthur dared to make conversation.

They talked easily about school and such before Merlin decided to take a stab at a serious topic.

"How are things going with Cedric?" He asked managing to keep his voice neutral.

"Good." Arthur told him. "He's a cool guy; he treats me like a Prince."

Merlin tried to force a smile but he was sure it came across as a grimace. He had hoped for Arthur to tell him that things were awful with Cedric or that they weren't seeing each other anymore.

"What about you and Lancelot?" Arthur asked politely and Merlin found himself feeling slightly disappointed not to hear a note of jealousy in the blonde's voice as he mentioned Lancelot's name.

"Great." Merlin answered. "Really great. Lancelot, he's um… he's really, he's really…"

"Great." Arthur supplied.

"Yeah. Great." Merlin nodded before letting out a shaky breath.

Arthur offered him a smile and all of a sudden Merlin was overcome with a feeling of nervousness. He tried to present an air of confidence but he was sure he was failing miserably, especially when he managed to drop bolognaise down his shirt.

"Damn." He complained as he wiped the mess off with his sleeve consequently creating a stain across his torso and on the cuff of his shirt.

"You know I almost forgot how clumsy you can be." Arthur laughed.

Merlin made to glare at the blonde but wasn't able too when he saw the look of fondness in the other's blue eyes. Unable to fight it, Merlin found himself smiling back.

"Remember when we were eleven and Gana made us take part in the Dance Showcase with her?" Arthur asked and Merlin groaned at the memory as he nodded.

"How could I forget?" Merlin asked rhetorically. "When I left the stage my foot got caught on one of the cables that led to the on-stage lights and I tripped over in front of everyone."

"What about that time Gana's parents took us to the zoo?" Arthur asked. "You dropped Mr. LeFay's car keys into the monkey cage."

"I remember." Merlin laughed. "The Zookeeper was not happy about that when he had to fight the monkey to get them back."

"And that time we went to your Grandmother's." Arthur recalled with a grin.

"Which time?" Merlin asked. "There were plenty of times we went there and I broke something."

"I was thinking of the time you decided to play fetch with her dog and when you threw the ball it knocked down her expensive china tea-pot." Arthur said.

Merlin's face instantly lit up with recognition. It had been a long while before he and his mother visited his Gran again after that incident.

"I still say that was the dog's fault." Merlin chuckled as he finished off his meal.

He set his knife and fork down and looked to Arthur to see if he had finished and found the blonde laughing at him lightly.

"What?" He asked self-consciously.

"You've got a bit of sauce on your face." Arthur told him.

Blushing slightly Merlin wiped his mouth with his sleeve but taking into account that Arthur was still laughing Merlin guessed he had missed it.

"Come here." Arthur instructed and Merlin leaned across the table.

After licking the pad of his thumb, Arthur wiped the smudge of sauce away from the corner of Merlin's lip. He lingered for a while as they made eye-contact before Arthur ducked his head and pulled his hand away.

Once again, things were awkward between the two as they cleared their plates away then left the canteen. Outside they had the misfortune of coming across Valiant and Vivian. The two instantly seized the opportunity to tease them about their homosexuality.

"Here come the cock-suckers." Valiant jeered whilst Vivian giggled.

"Go to Hell." Merlin scoffed at them.

"What did you say to me queer boy?" Valiant demanded to know as he invaded Merlin's personal space.

"Back off." Arthur snapped shoving Valiant away.

"Don't touch me faggot." Valiant sneered at him.

"Faggot?" Arthur asked with a raised eyebrow. "Is that really the best insult you can come up with?"

"Shut up Blondie." Vivian interjected.

"You do realise you have blonde hair too right?" Arthur asked her slowly.

Vivian frowned looking highly confused as she ran a hand through her gold locks.

"Idiots." Arthur muttered as he placed a hand on Merlin's lower back and led him away.

The further they walked, the closer they became and by the time they came to stop at a bench Arthur's arm was over Merlin's shoulders and Merlin's fit snugly around Arthur's waist.

As they sat down on the bench they pulled their arms away from each other. Merlin placed his hands in his lap and tried to keep his eyes off of Arthur but did not succeed. Every few seconds he found himself turning to look at the blonde, to really look at him.

His eyes mentally undressed Arthur and Merlin licked his lips at the thought of seeing the other boy's defined chest and stomach muscles as well as his strong legs, his amazing arse and his sure to be impressive cock.

"Do you love Cedric?" Merlin asked before he could stop himself.

Arthur blinked in surprise at the question before letting out an awkward laugh.

"No, I don't." Arthur answered and Merlin could not begin to describe the relief that swept through him. "You know I don't. It's you that I love Merlin. It's always been you."

Merlin smiled brilliantly and scooted closer to Arthur. The blonde faced him and Merlin took his time admiring his friend's face before closing his eyes and moving towards his lips. He knew it was wrong to betray Lancelot in such a way but he didn't care right now. In that moment Merlin simply wanted nothing more than to kiss Arthur.

However, the kiss didn't happen. Merlin was gently but forcefully pushed away. He opened his eyes and looked questioningly at the blonde but Arthur wasn't making eye-contact.

"What's wrong?" Merlin asked wondering if he had bad-breath or something.

"You're with Lancelot." Arthur pointed out before grabbing his bag then heading away leaving an un-kissed Merlin behind.

"I hate you!" Merlin yelled out angrily instantly regretting his words when he saw Arthur's back stiffen before he disappeared round the corner. "Oh fuck."

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	19. Then He Was Gone

**Disclaimer-Still don't own Merlin people**

**Thanks for reviewing, enjoy**

**Chapter 18-Then He Was Gone **

**Miss Read's POV**

The young teacher looked up in surprise when Arthur entered her classroom fifteen minutes early. He stalked to the back of the room and slumped into his seat letting out a groan.

"Anything I can help you with?" She asked guessing that the teen had a problem.

"I doubt it." Arthur sighed.

"Try me." Miss Read challenged as she crossed the room to sit opposite him.

"It's Merlin." Arthur told her.

"Ah." She replied in understanding. "Teenage love, wonderful and devastating all at the same time. One minute you're so happy you feel like you're walking on air and the next you feel your heart breaking in your chest as somebody walks all over you stamping you deeper into the dirt."

"Something like that." Arthur replied. "We were having a good day today. A great day. We were just talking about old times. It was nice."

"But?" Miss Read asked.

"Merlin tried to kiss me." He explained as he massaged the back of his neck. "He didn't like it when I pushed him away."

"Why did you push him away?" Miss Read asked. "I thought you liked him."

"I do." Arthur told her. "I love him. I mean, I know we're just kids but… I love him. I really do. It's not some crush or strong infatuation, it's real. I love him."

"That's lovely Arthur." Miss Read said with a bright smile. "But _why _didn't you just kiss him?"

"He has a boyfriend." Arthur answered bitterly. "Lancelot. It wouldn't have been right. Merlin would have felt guilty afterwards, then he'd have blamed me and everything would be completely fu-um-messed up."

"Give Merlin time." She told her pupil gently. "He'll come round. Obviously he has feelings for you. When he breaks up with Lancelot I'm sure things will be fine, just like a perfect little fairytale."

"He told me he hated me." Arthur said.

"Oh." Miss Read frowned. "Perhaps fairytale isn't the right word then. Maybe it will be more like a soap opera."

"A soap opera." Arthur drawled. "Great."

Miss Read rolled her eyes at his sarcasm then patted him on the shoulder before moving back over to her desk just as the other students began filing in.

When Merlin sidled into the room he shot an apologetic look in the blonde's direction. As she looked on, Miss Read saw Merlin cautiously approach the seat beside Arthur. He paused before quietly asking if he could sit down. Arthur turned to face Miss Read and she nodded at him encouragingly. The blonde then looked up at Merlin and offered a small smile before inviting him to sit down. She smiled happily at the two before beginning the lesson.

**Merlin's POV**

"I'm sorry." He whispered as he sat beside his friend. "And I don't hate you. You know that right?"

Arthur nodded but his eyes still looked some what dim. Leaning towards him, Merlin pressed a whisper of a kiss to the other boy's cheek. The blonde turned to stare at him and Merlin smiled softly before turning his attention to the teacher.

He kept looking at Arthur out of the corner of his eye and he was certain Arthur was looking back at him too. He moved his hand beneath the desk and settled it on Arthur's thigh giving him a light squeeze. Arthur brought his own hand down and entwined his fingers with Merlin's. The blonde squeezed Merlin's hand before pulling his hand back and setting it upon the desk.

Not sure what was going on in the other boy's head but desperately needing to know, Merlin ripped off a scrap of paper and scribbled a note then passed it to the blonde.

A minute or two later Arthur passed the note back and Merlin opened it up to read.

At the top was his own message: **What's wrong?**

Beneath that Arthur had replied by writing: _You're with Lancelot._

**So what do you want me to do? **Merlin wrote back.

A few moments later he received a response.

_Dump him _Arthur had written neatly. _It's him or me._

Merlin stared down at the note in his hands not sure what to do. He wanted Arthur but he wanted Lancelot too. It was like choosing between his two favourite chocolate bars, he enjoyed them both for different reasons.

Lancelot was more mature, more sophisticated. He was smooth like a Galaxy Caramel bar. As for Arthur, he was full of surprises like a Fruit and Nut chocolate bar. When Merlin was ten, he had almost chocked on a Fruit and Nut bar when a particularly large nut got lodged in his throat. Even five years later Merlin was still a little weary when he ate them even though he enjoyed them so much. He didn't have that concern with Galaxy Caramel. Fruit and Nut could hurt him, had already hurt him, but Galaxy Caramel never would.

Gripping his pen firmly in his hand, Merlin scrawled his answer down then passed the note back to Arthur.

**Him.**

**Arthur's POV**

The blonde was shocked at how painful that simple three letter word was. It felt like he had been stabbed through the heart and an agonizing poison had been injected into his veins.

He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, he wanted to throw things across the classroom and punch somebody, preferably Lancelot, in the face really hard. He wanted every single person sitting in the room with him to feel his pain and misery. He wanted everybody to suffer along with him. He wanted Miss Read to suffer, he wanted the other students to suffer and right now he even wanted Merlin to suffer.

Merlin didn't want him. He wanted Lancelot, perfect, charming, handsome fucking Lancelot.

It felt like a hundred years before the bell rang signalling the end of the day and Arthur could not find the chimes more welcoming. He grabbed his stuff and shoved it unceremoniously into his bag before rushing out of the classroom as far away from Merlin as he could get.

When he reached the school gates he found Lancelot waiting for Merlin on his motorbike. The blonde wanted to run up to the older teen and challenge him to a fight. Arthur wanted to beat him to death with his bare fists or run him through with a sword like they did in the olden days. But he didn't. There was no point. Beating up Lancelot would not change Merlin's answer.

**Lancelot's POV**

He noticed Arthur storming out of the school grounds with a murderous look on his face. A look that was directed at him no less. Despite being older than the fifteen year old Lancelot would be lying if he said he wasn't a little bit intimidated by the blonde.

Thankfully, Arthur did not approach Lancelot to yell at him or hit him. He simply marched angrily down the road heading home.

When Merlin appeared he was walking slower than usual with a definite slump to his shoulders. As he neared Lancelot, the younger boy presented him with a smile but Lancelot could clearly see that it was fake. He and Arthur must have had a fight of some sort, Lancelot decided.

"Hi baby." Lancelot smiled as he pulled Merlin to him and the two shared a kiss.

The older male took his time to explore the fifteen year olds mouth cherishing what would ultimately be one of his last kisses with Merlin. He wasn't a fool. He knew the two younger teens were destined to be together.

"Get on." Lancelot told him as he handed Merlin the spare helmet. "I'll take you home.

When Merlin was sat comfortably with his arms locked securely around Lancelot's waist, Lancelot started the engine and sped off in the direction of Merlin's house.

They arrived in a matter of minutes and Merlin invited Lancelot inside. The taller dark-haired male accepted and followed the pale boy up the garden path and into his home where they sat together on the sofa.

As he hugged Merlin to his side, Lancelot took the opportunity to breathe in his scent and fondly run his hand through the younger boy's dark locks.

"Hey, that tickles." Merlin giggled as the older boy's breath ghosted across his neck.

"Sorry." Lancelot murmured.

"Is everything ok?" Merlin asked as he turned to face him.

"Yeah. Fine." Lancelot replied before lowering his mouth to Merlin's and selfishly allowing himself to steal a final kiss.

They pulled apart for air far too soon for Lancelot's liking but he knew the kiss had to end at some point. As much as he would like to, he could not stay kissing Merlin forever.

"Oh no." Merlin said recognizing the look upon Lancelot's face, the same look he had been wearing when he broke up with him the first time. "Please… please don't."

"I'm sorry." Lancelot told him gently as the younger boy clutched to his shirt desperately. "But it's not me you want. It's him. We both know it's him."

"No, no it's you." Merlin insisted as he straddled Lancelot's lap. "I want you. Please, I choose you."

"You have no idea how much I want to believe that." Lancelot sighed as he stood up, picking Merlin up with him and setting the boy back on his feet. "But we both know it's not true. I'm not Arthur."

"I d-don't…" Merlin swallowed before speaking more clearly. "I don't want Arthur."

"Yes you do." Lancelot replied knowingly as he gently held Merlin's chin and stroked his thumb over the boy's jawbone. "You're just scared because you love him so much. Goodbye Merlin."

Lancelot dropped a kiss to the top of Merlin's head before showing himself out of the house. He mounted his motorbike, placed his helmet on his head and then he was gone.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	20. Baby Boy

**Disclaimer-I do not own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone**

**Chapter 19-Baby Boy **

**Arthur's POV**

Just when Arthur thought his day couldn't possibly get any worse, it did. As he rounded the corner that led onto his street he spotted a group of boys outside his house. He instantly recognised the one in the middle as Valiant and a few of the others he knew went to his school but he didn't share any lessons with them. However, he knew the boys were not waiting there to greet him. They were there to beat him up.

As he moved closer, Arthur realised they each had a bat in their hands. They weren't just going to attack him; the cowards were going to attack him with weapons. There was no way Arthur would be able to fight them all off, he knew that, but he was certainly going to fight back as best as he could.

"Take a look boys." Valiant sneered. "Here comes the faggot. Where's your boyfriend? Is he off sucking some other queer's cock because you're not man enough for him?"

The others laughed at Valiant's taunts and they all moved so that they were circling Arthur. Though he'd never admit it, Arthur was scared. Those bats looked like they would hurt. As he looked about him he managed to exude an air of calm, not once showing the other seven boys his fear.

"What's the matter Valiant?" Arthur asked mockingly. "You have to get your friends to help beat me up because you're too scared to take me on yourself."

"Eat shit Pendragon." Valiant snapped. "I'm not afraid of you."

"If you're really not afraid why don't you send your friends away?" Arthur asked him. "Then we'll have it out just me and you."

Valiant just sneered at the blonde before swinging his bat aiming straight for Arthur's head. Reacting fast, Arthur grabbed the bat in his hand before it could hit him then wrenched it from Valiant's grip. He dropped his bag to the floor then swung the bat into Valiant's stomach.

Before he could make another swing, Arthur was hit from behind by three of the others. One hit to the back of his knees, one to the middle of his spine and one to the back of the head. He overbalanced slightly as more hits were delivered to him from all angles. Gripping the bat firmly in his hands he whacked back at his attackers hoping to fight off as many as he could.

It was no use. Arthur was outnumbered and a hard hit from behind knocked him onto his knees. His bat, his one chance at defending himself, was ripped away from him. As the seven boys continued to whack, punch and kick him, Arthur curled into a ball covering his face with his hands in a pitiful attempt to protect himself.

He was in so much pain and he could feel himself bleeding in numerous places. If his attackers didn't stop soon he was either going to be knocked unconscious or be beaten to death.

"Take it faggot!" Valiant snarled as he booted the blonde in the shins.

The sound of a speeding car met Arthur's ears followed by a loud honking noise. It took a few seconds for him to realise he wasn't being hit anymore. Moving his hands from his face he looked around and saw his attackers running away as somebody stalked towards them yelling furiously.

He recognised the voice. It was so familiar. Squinting his eyes, he tried to see through the blood and the blinding light of the sun to make out the form of his rescuer. The tall figure bent down beside him and Arthur felt himself being lifted up. The movement caused him a great deal of pain and Arthur let out a groan.

"Ssh Arthur." The voice said. "I've got you."

He was carried into his home and placed down gently on his bed. A surprisingly gentle hand brushed the blonde strands out of his face and looking up, Arthur met the concerned gaze of his father.

**Uther's POV**

"Arthur, can you hear me?" Uther asked gently as his son's eyes opened properly.

His son let out a moan in response. He made to sit up but Uther pushed him back down again.

"Rest." He said firmly.

He looked his son over before deciding it would be safer to take him to hospital rather than try to tend to his injuries himself. Taking his mobile out of his pocket, Uther dialled 999 and asked for an ambulance. During the wait, Uther cleaned up the worst of the blood and kept talking to his son to ensure he stayed conscious.

Thankfully, he had finished work early that day. He shuddered to think what might have happened to Arthur if he hadn't arrived when he did. Those boys could well have beaten his son to death. He would certainly be getting the police involved. He knew one of his son's attackers was Valiant and he recognised one of the others as the son of a work colleague. There had been seven in total and Uther vowed he would discover the identities of the five he didn't know and all seven would receive suitable punishment.

As he had been driving round the corner of his street, Uther had spotted the scuffle going on outside his house, it wasn't hard to miss. Though he couldn't see his boy because of all the others around him he instinctively knew it was Arthur huddled on the floor being attacked.

He had sped up instantly slamming his hand down on the horn which startled the seven boys. Stopping the car, Uther had stepped out glaring hard at them yelling all kinds of threats that soon had them running away in fear.

Then he had looked down to his son crumpled on the floor bruised and battered and covered in blood. In that moment, his son had looked so small and as Uther lifted him into his arms it felt like he was carrying his baby boy again.

When his wife had died shortly after the birth, Uther had become a single parent. He had been excited at the prospect of becoming a father and he was most pleased when he and Igraine learned they were to have a son. But he had always imagined that they would be a perfect family of three, not two.

As the midwife handed Arthur over to him for the first time, Uther was suddenly filled with fear. Looking down at the baby boy in his arms he was hit with the realisation that another human being was sorely dependent on him.

The first week had been the hardest. Not only did he have to take care of a newborn child he also had to arrange a funeral. There were many people who offered to help him but Uther had always been proud, stubborn and independent so he refused their help and insisted on doing it all on his own.

He barely managed to get any sleep because Arthur was always waking up screaming and crying at the top of his lungs in the middle of the night.

Eventually, Uther had accepted that he couldn't do everything alone. He couldn't work and take care of Arthur at the same time so he had hired a babysitter, a young woman by the name of Nimueh.

For about a month things had gone well. Work was good and Nimueh was brilliant with Arthur and Uther always came home to find his little boy sleeping soundly.

Then it all went wrong. Uther was in a highly important business meeting when he received a call from the hospital. Arthur was in intensive care. He had left for the hospital immediately and ran like a madman through the corridors in search of his baby boy.

When he found the right room Arthur was in a small crib with doctors bustling around him and countless wires everywhere that were connected to machines that were making all kinds of beeping noises.

Uther grabbed Nimueh by the shoulders demanding to know what had happened. Sobbing slightly, she had explained to him how she had took her eyes off of Arthur for just a moment so she could check her hair in the bathroom mirror. The next thing she knew, Arthur, who had recently begun to crawl, had taken a tumble down the stairs.

Enraged, Uther had yelled at the girl before punching the wall beside her head and ordering her to get out of his sight. A frightened Nimueh had fled and Uther never saw the girl again. She didn't even return to the Pendragon house to retrieve her things. In the end Uther had given them to a charity shop.

That night with Arthur in hospital was the worst of Uther's life. The doctor's and nurses were useless. Nobody would tell him anything. He was worried, he was angry and he felt completely helpless.

Luckily, his boy was a true Pendragon at heart, he was a fighter and he made a full recovery. Uther took him home and from then on it was he who looked after his son. He quit his job and became a full-time single dad.

It wasn't until Arthur was four that Uther returned to work and finally found a new babysitter. She was a woman named Katrina who had grown kids of her own and was much more responsible than Nimueh. Arthur hadn't liked her very much and constantly complained that she was a troll.

Then Arthur had started school and made friends with Merlin and Morgana. After school, Arthur would often go to one of his friends' houses and their parents would look after him until Uther finished work and came to pick him up.

Now, Uther found himself in the hospital again with his fifteen year old son looking considerably pale on the hospital bed. It wasn't as bad as last time. Arthur was awake and he could sit up but seeing his son in such a bad way still caused Uther's heart to ache.

Arthur had a broken arm, a broken nose, a swollen lip, a fractured wrist, a few cracked ribs, some internal bleeding as well as numerous cuts and bruises and a missing tooth.

The police had come and gone and Uther had been assured that Valiant and his companions would be dealt with.

However, what angered Uther the most was his neighbours. Surely some of them must have been home and seen what was going on and yet not one of them tried to help his son. As soon as he had Arthur home Uther would certainly be knocking on doors to yell at people.

At long last, he was permitted to step inside the hospital room and visit Arthur.

"How are you feeling?" He asked choosing to stand rather than take the chair.

"Never better." Arthur drawled sarcastically.

"Would you like me to call your friends?" Uther asked thinking of them for the first time. "Morgana… Merlin?"

"No." Arthur replied keeping his eyes down. "I'm fine. There's no need to bother them."

"Very well." Uther said respecting his son's wishes.

A nurse came in to check on Arthur and the two Pendragon men fell silent as she noted things down on her clipboard. She asked Arthur a few questions and smiled at him kindly before leaving to see her next patient.

"I'm sorry." Arthur said quietly and Uther looked to him in confusion. "I shouldn't have been so weak father. I should have fought back harder."

"Arthur, you were outnumbered seven to one." Uther reminded him. "There was no way you could have fought them all off. You are not weak."

"Are you proud of me father?" Arthur asked looking up at him through his lashes. "Or am I just a huge disappointment to you? The weak faggot son who can't defend himself."

"You are not weak." Uther told him again in a fierce tone. "Do you understand me? You are not weak. And don't you ever talk about yourself in such a degrading manner. You should never be ashamed of who you are Arthur."

"I'm not." Arthur replied. "I feel like it's you who's ashamed of me."

Moving closer to the hospital bed, Uther placed a light hand on his son's shoulder.

"I have always been proud of you." Uther told him. "Don't you ever think otherwise. You mean more to me than anything."

A small tear fell down Arthur's face and he turned his head hoping Uther wouldn't see but he already had. Uther gently reached out and wiped the tear away before pulling his son into a light hug. He pulled away and told Arthur he'd be back soon before heading outside to make a couple of phone calls.

First he phoned Hunith and explained to her what happened. She assured him that she and Merlin would be at the hospital as soon as possible. He thanked her before dialling the next number. After a few rings, Morgana answered with a cheerful hello. He told her what had happened and the girl was on her way to the hospital before Uther had even finished speaking.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	21. A Dragon Teddy

**Disclaimer-I do not own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone, enjoy **

**Chapter 20-A Dragon Teddy **

**Morgana's POV**

How Morgana managed to run all the way to the hospital in four inch heels she never knew, but manage it she did. She raced through the doors up to the reception area and pushed the people in front of her out of the way. Leaning on the desk for support, she struggled to get her breathing under control as she asked the receptionist where Arthur Pendragon was.

As the woman searched for the information on her computer, Morgana tapped her fingers impatiently. A minute later the woman told Morgana where Arthur was and with a hasty thank-you Morgana was running towards the elevator.

She took a wrong turn on the third-floor corridor and got a little lost but she soon found herself in the right place. After pausing momentarily to admire a doctor's bottom, Morgana made her way into Arthur's room. She stepped up beside the blonde's bed and lightly brushed the hair away from his face.

"Whose ass am I kicking?" She asked.

"Gana, what are you doing here?" Arthur asked before shooting an accusing look at his father. "I said I didn't want to bother anyone." He complained to Uther.

"They deserved to know." Uther replied. "Merlin should be along soon."

Arthur let out a groan and Morgana gave him a funny look.

"Why don't you want to see Merlin?" She asked him. "If it was the other way round you'd want to know."

"I don't want him to see me like this." Arthur mumbled pathetically.

"Don't worry, even with a missing tooth and cuts and bruises you still look hot." Morgana assured him.

"Really?" Arthur asked hopefully. "You're not just saying that?"

"Really." She replied with a smile. "Now tell me, who did this to you?"

"Valiant and some of his homophobic mates." Arthur answered.

"Ok he's going to die." Morgana promised. "I'll find Valiant. Then I'll rip off his testicles and sell them to his Grandmother as earrings, I'll grab a baseball bat, cover it in barbed wire and then shove it up his ass, I'll staple his eyelids shut, stitch his mouth closed and then I'll lock him in a box full of scorpions. When I feel that he has suffered enough I will end his misery and drive a knife through his heart, assuming of course that he actually has one. Then I'll cut off Vivian's hair just for entertainment value."

"I actually almost feel sorry for Valiant." Arthur told her. "Has anyone told you that you're slightly unhinged?"

"What?" Morgana asked defensively. "That spineless cowardly snake hurt you; all I want to do is hurt him back."

"Just leave it Gana, it's not worth it." Arthur sighed.

"Yes it is." Uther encouraged. "Scratch this boy's eyes out Morgana."

"Father, don't encourage her." Arthur pleaded. "She actually is evil enough to do such a thing."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Morgana said pretending to sound insulted.

"Honestly, I'm fine." Arthur told her. "So I got beat up, it's not that big a deal."

"Yes it is." Morgana insisted. "You're in hospital Arthur. And it could have been much worse. You could be dead or unconscious."

"But I'm not." Arthur pointed out. "There's worse things than getting your head kicked in you know."

"Yeah, like what?" Morgana challenged.

"Oh I don't know." Arthur said sarcastically. "How about having someone stomp all over your heart."

Morgana softened at the blonde's words guessing Arthur and Merlin had had another fight about something.

"What happened with Merlin at school today?" She asked gently.

From where he was standing, Uther let out an awkward cough before making the excuse of needing to use the bathroom and leaving. She supposed he didn't feel comfortable being in the room whilst his gay son and friend discussed boys.

"He doesn't want me." Arthur answered sadly once his father had left. "He wants Lancelot."

The boy was so sad he couldn't even be bothered to say Lancelot's name scathingly.

"I'm sorry babe." Morgana replied. "But don't worry. The girls and I will put our heads together and we'll come up with a plan. We'll make Merlin realise he should be with you in no time."

"Don't bother." Arthur said as he looked down despairingly at his hospital gown. "You can't meddle and scheme to get two people together. He'll be better off with Lancelot anyway."

Morgana sighed and gently laced her fingers with Arthur's unbroken arm. She wanted her two boys to be together more than anything but perhaps Arthur was right, maybe plotting and scheming wasn't the best way to go about it. Maybe her trying to force them together was only forcing them further apart. Perhaps she ought to let things develop naturally.

Approaching footsteps announced the arrival of Hunith and Merlin who stepped inside the room along with Uther.

Hunith hurried over to Arthur and pressed a kiss to the top of his head before setting down a bag of grapes and a box of chocolates on the side table.

"That's from me too." Morgana said realising that she'd been so fixated on seeing Arthur she hadn't even thought to bring him a gift.

"Thank you Hunith." Arthur said politely after rolling his eyes at Morgana.

The blonde then looked over to Merlin who was stood in the doorway with a cuddly dragon in his hand. Somewhat awkwardly he approached the bed and placed the dragon in Arthur's lap. For some reason he refused to look at Arthur.

**Merlin's POV**

When his mother had told him that Arthur was in hospital Merlin's blood had run cold. Horrific images attacked his mind coming up with the worst case scenarios. By the time they reached the hospital Merlin had convinced himself that he was going to find the blonde half-dead.

It had taken Hunith nearly ten minutes just to persuade him to step out of the car. After taking a quick trip to the gift shop they had made their way up to the third floor. Rather than use the elevator, Merlin opted for the stairs and walked as slow as possible.

Although he wanted to see Arthur and make sure he was ok, he didn't want to have to see Arthur in any kind of pain. His mind tormented him with thoughts of Arthur covered in blood and crying in agony. Though Hunith tried to assure him that Arthur would be fine Merlin didn't quite believe her.

As they neared his hospital room Merlin could hear Arthur and Morgana's voices though he couldn't distinguish what they were saying. He breathed a sigh of relief as he realised Arthur couldn't be too badly injured if he was talking.

They were joined by Uther and Merlin lowered his eyes to the floor. Even after all these years, Mr. Pendragon still intimidated him.

The two adults moved into the hospital room first and Merlin hung awkwardly by the door way. Although he didn't make eye contact with Arthur he could feel the other teen's eyes on him. He stepped up to the bed and placed the dragon teddy onto Arthur's lap then stood with his hands behind his back looking at his trainers.

It seemed that Arthur had turned his gaze away from him but Merlin could still feel Morgana's stare burning into him. He supposed she wasn't too impressed with his silence. In all honesty, Merlin wasn't impressed with himself either.

He should be asking after Arthur's well-being and telling him he's pleased he's ok or at the very least, Merlin should look the blonde in the eye.

"I'm starving." Morgana spoke up. "Perhaps we should get something to eat."

"Good idea." Hunith agreed. "Although somebody should stay with Arthur."

"You'll stay won't you Merlin." Morgana said and the dark-haired boy knew he didn't have an option.

Before he even had time to blink, Morgana and Hunith were dragging Uther out of the hospital room leaving him alone with Arthur.

Trying to swallow down his nerves, Merlin perched himself on the seat Morgana had recently vacated. He occupied himself by biting off a thumb nail then spitting it onto the floor. Finally, he brought himself to look at Arthur.

He chewed down on his lower lip as he took in the bruising on his face. There was also the broken nose and the broken arm and his lip was still swollen.

"It's not as bad as it looks." Arthur told him.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." Merlin replied.

"Shit happens." Arthur shrugged. "It's not your fault."

"It was Valiant wasn't it?" Merlin guessed correctly feeling his hatred for the bully intensify.

"Yeah. Him and six others." Arthur answered.

"Fucking coward." Merlin swore.

"Merlin Emrys, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Arthur asked jokingly.

"How long are they keeping you in?" Merlin asked steering the conversation into a more serious direction.

"Don't know." Arthur said with a roll of his eyes. "I'm ready to go home now but I have to stay a bit longer so they can ensure I don't have brain damage or something."

Merlin pulled a frown not sure if the blonde was joking or not. He reached for the grapes on the table and popped one into his mouth.

"Hey, those are mine." Arthur complained.

Merlin just grinned before chewing down another. He then selected a third juicy grape and leaned towards Arthur offering the piece of fruit to him. Before Merlin could pull the grape away again, Arthur wrapped his lips around Merlin's two fingers taking the grape between his teeth. When he pulled his mouth away, Merlin's fingers were slick with the blonde's saliva.

"Thanks." Merlin said sarcastically as he wiped his hand on the bed linen.

"You didn't have to come and see me you know." Arthur told him quietly. "If you'd have preferred to spend your time with Lancelot I'd have understood."

"You really are a prat sometimes." Merlin replied as he gently took hold of Arthur's hand and linked their fingers together.

He noticed Arthur's eyes drop to their conjoined hands and he half expected him to pull away but he didn't. Instead he squeezed Merlin's hand tighter.

"I'm glad you're here Merlin." He admitted.

"I had to come." Merlin said. "When my mum said you'd been attacked and that you were in hospital I thought… I don't know what I thought. I just know that I was terrified. I thought maybe I'd come in here and find you dead or something."

"You won't get rid of me that easily." Arthur laughed. "So, um… should you really be holding my hand? I doubt Lancelot would approve."

"Lancelot broke up with me." Merlin informed him and Arthur blinked in surprise.

"Huh, he might be a looker but he's an idiot." Arthur commented. "If I had you I wouldn't let you go."

"But you did." Merlin reminded him. "You always had me Arthur, ever since we were five years old. I was your boy. Everything was great and then… you stopped being my friend. You didn't want me anymore. You let me go."

"Well I wouldn't make the same mistake twice." Arthur told him squeezing the boy's hand tighter. "What did you two break up over anyway?"

"The age difference." Merlin lied. "We realised that everybody else is right. Three years is too big of an age gap whilst I'm still a minor."

Merlin was glad that Morgana was gone because she would never have believed that lie but Arthur accepted it without question.

A while later a nurse bustled in to check on Arthur again and Merlin reluctantly unthreaded his fingers from Arthur's and left to find Morgana, Uther and his mother.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	22. Saving Arthur

**Disclaimer-As you should know by now, I don't own Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing, sorry I didn't update sooner, my internets been a bitch**

**Chapter 21-Saving Arthur **

**Hunith's POV**

Since coming back from visiting Arthur at the hospital, Merlin had been quieter than usual. When they returned home, he headed up to his bedroom. Normally, her son would play his music, watch television or play his music games but tonight no sound came from his room.

Concerned, Hunith made her way upstairs and knocked lightly on the door. She received a half-hearted response of 'come in' and stepped into the room. Merlin was lying stomach down on his bed with the light off and the curtains drawn. She flicked the light on and moved over to him. She ran a hand through his ebony hair as she gently asked him what was wrong.

"Nothing." Merlin sighed and Hunith remembered how in her youth, that response really meant 'everything'.

"Arthur will be alright you know." Hunith told him. "He's a tough young man. It's truly horrible what happened to him but you don't have to worry."

"It's not that." Merlin replied as he rolled onto his back clutching something tightly in his hand.

"What's bothering you?" Hunith asked. "Tell me."

She studied her son carefully as he bit down on his bottom lip as though that would keep himself from spilling all his secrets. He met her eyes again and those bright blue orbs were sparkling with unshed tears. Softly stroking Merlin's pale cheek with one hand, Hunith gently uncurled Merlin's fist to see what he was grasping so tightly in his hand.

Looking down, Hunith saw a broken bracelet. She picked up one half of the chain that bore the inscription 'FOR'. Merlin then held up the other half that bore the inscription 'EVER'.

"Forever." Hunith said aloud and that single word caused her son's tears to fall.

Pulling her boy to him, she rocked him back and forth and rubbed soothing circles on his back as he buried his face in her shoulder. He sobbed for some time before he managed to control himself. He then told her everything that had been happening between him and Arthur. Merlin also told her about Lancelot. She was shocked to hear that her boy had been dating someone so much older than him.

"This Lancelot," Hunith asked. "He never made you do anything did he?"

"He wasn't like that mum." Merlin told her as he wiped his eyes. "He was a lovely person. You'd have liked him."

"So, you're still a virgin then?" Hunith asked just to check.

Eyes closed and cheeks flushing with embarrassment, Merlin nodded.

"Good boy." Hunith sighed in a mixture of pride and relief. "Good boy."

"Everything's a mess mum." Merlin choked out pathetically. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"I'm afraid I can't give you the answers Merlin." Hunith said gently and he flashed her a disappointed look. "Not this time. This is something you have to work out for yourself." She held her half of the broken bracelet in her hand then paired it up with Merlin's half so that the 'FOREVER' was together. "Sometimes things get broken. Sometimes they can't be fixed, other times they can. But there are also times when it doesn't matter _if _they can or cannot be fixed; it all depends on whether we _want _them to be fixed."

She handed the bracelet pieces back to him then pressed a kiss to his temple before heading downstairs to work on dinner.

**Merlin's POV**

Left alone in his room, Merlin stared down at the chain in his hands. Forever was a long time. The idea of people staying together seemed impossible. Hardly anyone stayed together anymore.

He never knew his father and Arthur never knew his mother. Morgana's father had died when she was young as had Gwen's mother. Will's parents were divorced and he had a step-father. Then there was Freya who lived with both her birth parents but her father had left his ex-wife to be with her mother.

Could 'FOREVER' really be achieved?

He and Arthur hadn't been able to survive as friends so what chance was there of them surviving as a couple. 'FOREVER' had already been broken; perhaps it was better if it stayed that way. Maybe he and Arthur weren't meant to be fixed.

There was also his fear of getting hurt. The blonde had crippled his heart so badly already and he wasn't sure his heart had ever really healed. In situations such as this, people were often advised to listen to their heart.

Closing his eyes, Merlin placed a hand over his chest and listened to the sound of his heart beating. He loved Arthur; he wanted to be with him. When it came down to it, Merlin wanted his life to play out like the final scene of a romantic movie or the ending to a fairytale. Riding away with Arthur into the sunset seemed glorious. But this was real life, not a fairytale. Happily ever after didn't exist.

Though his heart yearned for Arthur and begged him to give a relationship with the blonde a chance, Merlin decided that in this case, he would listen to his head and tell his heart to shut up.

"It'll only end in tears." Merlin told himself. "Most probably mine. I don't need Arthur. I can be single and still be happy."

He fiddled with the broken bracelet for a few minutes before throwing it across the room. The chain hit the window before bouncing off and falling behind the chest of drawers out of sight.

**Three Weeks Later**

**Freya's POV**

After Arthur's attack, Valiant and his accomplices had been excluded from school for a week. In Freya's opinion, five days away from school was not a suitable punishment. It was hardly a punishment at all in fact. Valiant probably lazed around watching T.V and playing computer games. It was wrong, just wrong.

It was only when Valiant returned to school that he got a little taste of what he deserved. As Valiant had swaggered through the school gates on Monday morning, Morgana had stormed over to meet him.

Standing with Will, Gwen, Merlin and Arthur on the sidelines, Freya had seen first hand that Morgana didn't need six helpers or a baseball bat to put Valiant in the hospital.

After that incident, Morgana had been suspended from school for two weeks. It was completely unfair but apparently there was nothing Freya or anyone else could do.

Although she and her friends had expressed their views to the head teacher nothing could be done. Even Miss Read had come to Morgana's defence but because Morgana had attacked another student on school grounds her punishment was a heavier one.

Today was Morgana's first day back after serving her two week suspension.

"Any development?" Morgana asked as she met up with Freya and Gwen.

"Nothing." Gwen sighed.

"Merlin won't even look at Arthur." Freya said. "They don't talk and Merlin won't sit with him anymore. He and Will sit in the corner at lunch time and Arthur sits with us. Every time I try talking to Merlin about Arthur he pretends he hasn't heard or he changes the subject."

"How's Arthur doing?" Morgana asked looking between them.

Freya tapped Morgana's shoulder and pointed over to the tree by the school gates. The blonde was up on one of the higher branches looking thoroughly miserable.

"It's like he's given up." Freya said sadly. "Like there's no fight in him, no spirit. He doesn't seem to care about anything anymore."

"He doesn't eat." Gwen chipped in. "He doesn't speak, his grades are slipping. I'm worried about him."

"Even Will's worried about him." Freya pointed out as though that showed how serious the situation was.

"But not Merlin?" Morgana asked.

"He pretends he doesn't care." Freya answered. "But I know he does. He's just refusing to acknowledge that."

***

In her first lesson of the day, Freya was sat next to Will and she asked the boy if he'd managed to persuade Merlin to talk to Arthur.

"I'm sorry Frey." He told her and her shoulders sagged in disappointment. "I've never seen him like this and it's starting to fucking scare me."

"Merlin just needs time." Freya reasoned. "He'll come round eventually."

"I wasn't talking about Merlin." Will replied and Freya gazed at him quizzically. "It's Pendragon who's scaring me. Every time I see the prat I half expect him to jump out a window or something. The guy's wandering around like a fucking zombie, it's not right."

"This is all such a mess." Freya groaned as she leaned her elbows on the table and began massaging her temples.

"Tell me about it." Will grunted. "I can't even masturbate properly because I'm so worried about those two."

Freya turned to him with a look of disgust before shaking her head in disbelief.

"What?" He asked obliviously as he adjusted his pants and picked his nose.

Returning her focus to her work, Freya questioned for the millionth time why she fancied William. It was when the boy leaned towards her and tucked her hair behind her ears that she remembered. Will was so sweet sometimes that she couldn't help but like him. And he made her smile.

"What are you smiling at?" Will asked her.

"Nothing." She replied as her smile widened.

"You're quite pretty when you smile you know." He told her.

"Thank you." Freya replied blushing lightly. "You're actually quite charming when your finger isn't up your nose or down your pants."

**Miss Read's POV**

Arthur was depressed. Anyone could see that. Though he still sat with the girls at lunch he may as well have sat alone. He didn't talk to anyone or get involved with anything. He just sat still and stared into space. The boy hadn't completed any of the English homework she had handed out to him nor did he take notes during her lessons.

She wasn't even sure if Arthur was aware of what was going on around him. He seemed to be working on autopilot. She was deeply worried about her student. She had seen this type of behaviour before and the outcome had not been a happy one.

It seemed a lifetime ago that she had told Arthur about her old best friends Bradley and Colin. At the time, Miss Read had viewed Arthur as a young version of Bradley but now he was beginning to remind her of Colin.

Although Arthur wasn't being subjected to the bullying Bradley had tormented Colin with, the young blonde was acting just how Colin had before he committed suicide.

As a teenager, Miss Read hadn't been able to save Colin but she promised herself then that she would save Arthur.

**To Be Continued**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	23. Don't Say Goodbye

**Disclaimer-I still don't own the magic that is Merlin**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone, hope you like**

**Chapter 22-Don't Say Goodbye**

**Miss Read's POV**

The bell rang and her students collected their things and all headed for the door. Moving round her desk, Miss Read placed a hand on Merlin's shoulder and asked him to stay behind. He furrowed his brow in confusion obviously wondering what he'd done wrong. She noticed how his eyes swept to Arthur as the blonde left the room.

"Sit down Merlin." Miss Read instructed and the dark-haired teen slumped into his seat.

"I haven't done anything wrong." Merlin mumbled.

"I know you haven't." She replied and her pupil's confusion seemed to increase. "I'm going to tell you a story and I want you to listen very carefully, do you understand?"

"I guess so." Merlin shrugged still sounding uncertain.

"Good enough." Miss Read told him before clearing her throat. "Once upon a time, there were three young children. Two boys and one girl. All three of them became best friends and they did everything together. Then one day, one of the boys turned nasty. He treated his former best friends incredibly poorly, particularly the other boy. His bullying was so cruel that the other sweet little boy couldn't take it anymore. He took his own life and the little girl was not able to stop him. That little girl grew up to be an English teacher. One day, three pupils entered her classroom. Two boys and one girl. They were best friends and they reminded the teacher so much of herself and her old friends. The three even fell apart as she and her friends did. However, for a while it seemed as though her students would get the happy ending she had missed out on. The three became friends again for a short time. But now that little girl who grew up to be a teacher cannot tell if the ending will be one of happiness of heartbreak."

She finished speaking and looked down at Merlin pointedly. He squirmed in his seat and nibbled his lower lip.

"Did you have to speak to me like I was a five year old?" Merlin asked.

"Since you've been acting like one recently, yes." Miss Read replied and Merlin flinched slightly at the uncharacteristic bite in her tone. "Anyone can see that you and Arthur care about each other. Why won't you let yourself be happy with him? Do you enjoy torturing yourself and being miserable?"

"No." Merlin said quietly. "I just… I don't want to get hurt. You wouldn't understand."

"Do I need to repeat part of the story I told you?" Miss Read asked him. "My friend, Colin, he took his own life because Bradley refused to admit that he loved him back." She looked down at the ground and drew in a long breath. Even after all these years it still caused her a great amount of pain to talk about her two friends.

"Miss," Merlin spoke up. "I'm sorry about your friends. Really, I am but… that's not… I'm not going to do anything like that. You don't have to worry about me, I promise."

"Right now it isn't you who has me worried Merlin." Miss Read told him. "It's Arthur who has me concerned. Haven't you looked at him properly recently? He's so close to breaking. His behaviour, it's just the same as how Colin was behaving before he… before he killed himself."

"Arthur wouldn't do that." Merlin said quickly but she easily detected the worry in his voice. "I mean he wouldn't he just… he just wouldn't. He's Arthur. He's strong and brave and all the things I'm not."

"Maybe it's you who makes him strong and brave." Miss Read suggested. "Maybe without you he's nothing at all. I couldn't save Colin and I have to live with that guilt every single day."

"But that wasn't your fault." Merlin interrupted. "You can't blame yourself for what happened to your friend."

Miss Read smiled slightly, countless times people had told her what Merlin was saying now but it still didn't help. She would always feel partly responsible and though helping Merlin and Arthur wouldn't change that or bring Colin back, it would ease her conscience.

"But I do blame myself Merlin." She told him. "And if Arthur tried to hurt himself, you'd feel you were to blame too. All I'm asking is for you to talk to him before it's too late. You may be afraid of getting hurt and that is understandable… but if you don't do something about you and Arthur now then you're going to be plastering on fake smiles and secretly hurting for the rest of your life."

She stood back and stayed silent as she gave the boy time to reflect on her words.

"I do love him Miss." Merlin whispered.

"Don't tell me that Merlin." Miss Read replied in her usual gentle tone. "Tell Arthur. He's the one who needs to hear it."

"I'm scared." Merlin admitted.

"And so is he." Miss Read said. "You can go now Merlin." She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly and watched him leave.

When he was gone she took a deep breath and pulled out her necklace that she always wore out of sight under her shirt. It had been part of a three piece. She had found the necklaces in a shop and brought them right away for Colin, Bradley and herself. Colin's piece had said 'BEST', Bradley's had said 'FRIENDS' and her piece said 'FOREVER'. Above the writing, she had etched the initial 'C' and below the writing she had etched the initial 'B'.

**Merlin's POV**

He trudged home slowly with his hands in his pockets and his bag dangling off his arm almost scraping across the pavement. As he walked, he wondered if perhaps Miss Read would get into trouble if people knew she had discussed such things with him. He wouldn't tell anyone of course. He liked Miss Read and he knew she was only trying to help.

His thoughts turned to Arthur and the idea of the blonde doing anything to hurt himself made him feel sick. No-one had ever made Merlin feel the way that Arthur did. Even in childhood, Arthur had always been the best part of Merlin's life. As much as he loved his mother and Morgana and as much as he loved his new friends now, it had always been Arthur who Merlin wanted to see each morning when he woke up. It was Arthur who made him smile and made him laugh. It was Arthur who made Merlin's heart skip a beat with a single look and butterflies flap around in his stomach at the sound of the blonde's voice.

Of course, in recent years, Arthur had been the cause of Merlin's tears. Every horrible word the blonde had said to him still echoed in Merlin's head with each syllable creating its own sting. Was that how Arthur felt too? Did he feel pain and despair every time he saw Merlin at school or just thought about him during the day? Was keeping away from Arthur really doing either of them any good, or was it doing even more damage?

Rather than go home, Merlin headed to Will's house. Will invited him up to his room and the two absorbed themselves in one of Will's video games.

Normally, Merlin would go to one of the girl's for advice but this time he chose to speak to Will.

"I have a friend." Merlin said as the two of them shot at their computer generated attackers. "And this friend is in love with another friend. And the friend loves the first friend back but…"

"Dude," Will interrupted. "You can drop all the 'friend' ballshit ok. I know you're talking about you and Pendragon, even I'm not that stupid."

"Right." Merlin replied as his character died due to lack of concentration. "Well Arthur says he loves me and I love him too but is that really enough?"

Will paused the game and turned to face Merlin with an incredulous look.

"Mate, the guy you're in love with loves you back." Will pointed out. "That's a hell of a lot more than most people get. Some people end up alone or the chick or dude they're in love with fucks off with some other chick or dude or somebody dies or something. The prat you love is right there in front of you."

"Is he?" Merlin asked with an ounce of doubt creeping into his voice. "What about that Cedric guy? Maybe Arthur's moved on to him and forgotten about me already."

"That's stupid mate, that Cedric bloke had a moustache." Will told him as though that settled the argument.

"Maybe Arthur likes moustaches. Should I grow a moustache?"

"No, no fucking moustache." Will snapped in a no nonsense tone. "Look, that Cedric guy was a trick or something."

"A trick?" Merlin asked cocking his head to the side as he looked questioningly at his friend.

"Freya told me it was set up to make you jealous or something." Will explained. "I don't really remember much because I was staring at her tits."

Merlin shook his head and rolled his eyes as he mused over what Will had told him. If Cedric had only been a plan the girls had set up to make Merlin jealous then he had nothing to worry about. He could still be with Arthur if he wanted to. The only thing Merlin had to work out was if he wanted to risk being hurt in order to be with the blonde. There was also all that he had discussed with Miss Read to consider. Could Arthur really be so depressed that he might try and commit suicide?

"Do you think Arthur's depressed?" Merlin asked casually as Will started up another game on the computer.

"Of course he is." Will answered. "I walked past him on the top floor corridor today. He was standing by the window looking like he wanted to jump. And Freya told me she took his knife off of him during lunch because she was worried he'd try slashing his wrists with it or something."

"You really think Arthur would try and kill himself?" Merlin asked starting to panic slightly.

"Mate, I didn't think." Will said by way of an apology. "I'm sure Pendragon will be fine. I'm probably just exaggerating. Come on, let's kick some zombie ass."

"No thanks." Merlin replied as he stood up. "I have to see Arthur."

"Merlin, I was just being an idiot." Will told him. "I'm sure Arthur won't do anything that stupid."

"Are you?" Merlin asked seriously. "Are you really one hundred percent positive that Arthur won't try and hurt himself?"

Will opened his mouth to answer but soon closed it again and looked to the ground scratching the back of his head.

"I don't know man." He said. "I just don't know."

"Then I have to see him." Merlin decided. "Because if there's even the smallest chance he might do something stupid then I have to get to him before he does. I can't lose him."

"I can come with you." Will offered.

"No, I need to do this alone." Merlin replied. "But thanks Will. You really are a good friend. You'd probably make a good boyfriend too."

"Um… mate I'm flattered and everything but… the whole gay thing really isn't my scene." Will said.

"I didn't mean a good boyfriend for me." Merlin laughed. "I was thinking about you and Freya. She's crazy about you. You should ask her out before someone beats you to it."

**Arthur's POV**

His father was at work so he was alone in the house. Alone. Completely alone. He crept into his father's room and hunted for a photo of his mother; he knew his father must still keep them somewhere.

Eventually he found them and he stared down at the image of his mother. She looked so beautiful. He only wished he could see her for real, speak to her, hug her… anything.

Arthur wasn't sure when the tears began to fall; he just knew that they did. He put the photo away and left his father's room before heading to his own. He looked around his room before sitting himself at his desk and pulling a piece of paper towards him. With his pen in hand he began to write:

_Father,_

_I'm sorry for doing this to you. It is selfish and cruel of me but I see no other option. I wish I could be stronger for you, a proper Pendragon, but I can't go on living my life in such misery._

_It pains me to think of you living life alone when I'm gone but I know you'll find the strength and courage to carry on. That's probably what I admire about you must. When mother died, you kept on going. I only hope you can keep going with me gone too._

_I love you father, truly I do, but there's no way I can keep on living. Hopefully, wherever the afterlife takes me, mother will be there. If I do find her, I'll let her know how much you still love her and we'll wait for you to join us._

_Please tell Morgana that she is welcome to claim any of my possessions as her own. Let her know that she was like a sister to me and that I'm truly thankful for having her as a friend. I know she did her best to help and even though it didn't work, I'm thankful to her for trying. Give her my love._

_Tell Freya and Will to admit their feelings for one another. Tell them I'm sorry for how I've treated them in the past and that I'm thankful for how they've supported me recently._

_Tell Guinevere not to cry. She's smart, she's beautiful and she's kind. She once told me that if life was a fairytale she'd be a lowly handmaiden. Tell her I disagree. Tell her that there is a handsome Prince somewhere just waiting to make Gwen his Queen._

_Tell Miss Read that she is a wonderful teacher and an amazing woman. Don't let her blame herself for what I've chosen to do. I know all this will be hard on her and stir up bad memories and for that I am truly sorry._

_Finally, tell Merlin that I love him, that I always have and I always will, even in death. Make sure he knows that he is not to blame. Taking into account how I've treated Merlin in the past, it is perfectly understandable for him to be angry with me or even hate me. I hope he'll find someone to make him happy. Maybe Lancelot. They shouldn't let the age difference come between them. They're good together. Lancelot will treat him right and love him in all the ways I was too scared to._

_I'm truly sorry to you all and I love you all so much. Please forgive me._

_Goodbye, love Arthur_

_xxx_

Letter finished, Arthur placed his pen down wiped his eyes. He placed the letter on his pillow then took a last look around his bedroom. Crying silent tears, he made his way downstairs, through the house and into the back garden then down to the old shed.

With a bit of effort, he managed to break off the lock and he stepped inside. The smell of wood overpowered his nostrils and he ducked his head low to avoid the cobwebs as he searched for the thick length of rope he knew to be stored somewhere in the shed.

After five minutes of searching through the clutter of tools and garden equipment he found the rope lodged beneath the lawnmower. He tugged on it and pulled most of it towards him but one end was trapped in the lawnmowers wheels. He let out a cry of frustration before searching the shed for the pruning shears he had seen earlier. Upon finding them, the young blonde set to work on cutting the rope but found the rope was too thick and the shears too blunt.

Tossing the pruning shears to the side, Arthur stood up and reached for the manual saw that was perched carelessly on a top shelf. He grabbed the handle then crouched back down and began the task of sawing through the rope.

**Merlin's POV**

When he knocked on Arthur's front door he received no answer. He moved to peer through the window but the living-room was empty. He knocked again and waited a minute or two before stepping back and selecting a pebble off the ground. He took aim, and then tossed the pebble at an upper window hoping that it was Arthur's bedroom.

He threw a total of three more pebbles but there was still no response. Marching back up to the door, he knocked again, pounding his fist as hard as he could.

"Arthur!" He yelled.

Kneeling down, he pushed open the letterbox and looked through but there was no sign of movement in the house.

"Arthur!" He yelled again.

**Arthur's POV**

As he finished sawing through the rope he imagined Merlin shouting out his name. He shook his head and gathered the rope in his arms before carrying it back up to the house. As he closed the back door behind him he thought he heard his name being yelled again but he was sure it was only in his imagination.

Preparing to make his way upstairs, Arthur heard his name being yelled again and as he looked to the front door there was no mistaking the blue eyes that were peeking through the letterbox.

He hesitated for a while on whether he should open the door or not but he quickly decided that he wanted to see Merlin a final time. He placed the rope on the stairs and opened the door then looked down at the dark-haired boy.

"Arthur." Merlin sighed in relief as he stood up and threw his arms around the blonde.

Arthur held the slender boy close and allowed himself to breathe in the smell of Merlin's lemony scent.

"What's that rope for?" Merlin asked as he pulled away slightly but kept his arms around Arthur's shoulders.

"Nothing." Arthur answered as he avoided Merlin's eye. "Just something father asked me to do. It's not important. Did you want something? I'm a little busy."

Merlin stared at him carefully for a long while before closing the front door then placing his hands on either side of Arthur's face and pulling him into an intense and desperate kiss.

Without hesitation, Arthur kissed back as passionately as he knew how, winding his fingers into Merlin's raven hair and pulling his body as close to him as possible.

"I love you." Merlin declared as they pulled apart for air. "Do you hear me you prat? I love you."

"Why?" Arthur asked not understanding how the boy before him could possibly love him.

Arthur felt a chaste kiss be pressed to his lips then watched as Merlin pulled something out of his pocket.

"I went home before I came here." Merlin told him as he handed the objects over. "I found them behind the back of my T.V."

Looking down, Arthur found himself staring at the two pieces of his bracelet and the unbroken bracelet of Merlin's that said 'FRIENDS'.

"I thought you'd lost yours." Arthur commented.

"I did." Merlin answered. "A few weeks ago I got angry and threw your one across my room. Today I got behind my T.V so I could find it and I found mine as well."

Arthur let out the smallest hint of a chuckle before his expression morphed into one of sadness. He hated the fact that 'FOREVER' was broken.

"Everything's my fault." Arthur sighed. "We were supposed to be friends forever and I ruined that. It can't be fixed."

"That's what I thought." Merlin told him. "But I've found a new way to look at it. Forever might be broken but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Our bracelets together say 'FRIENDS FOREVER', so the whole friendship thing might be broken but maybe that's because we're supposed to be more than just friends."

Arthur looked up into Merlin's eyes and laughed lightly as he realised for the first time Merlin was taller than him. His laughter died however when his gaze landed upon the rope he had been planning to hang himself with. His mind then moved upstairs to the 'Goodbye' letter he'd left on his pillow.

"Arthur, what was that rope for?" Merlin asked and as Arthur met his gaze he got the sense that Merlin already knew what he'd been planning.

"I wanted the pain to stop." Arthur answered. "I didn't want to hurt anymore. I was going to end it… I was going to hang myself."

"Prat." Merlin said under his breath as he pulled Arthur close to him.

"Don't you even think about doing anything as stupid as that ever again."

"I'm sorry." Arthur told him as he held tight to the dark-haired teenager. "I'm sorry for everything."

A kiss was pressed to the side of his head, then one to his shoulder, then his neck, then his jaw before Merlin met his mouth again and their tongues gently caressed one another.

When they pulled away, Merlin ordered him to get rid of the rope. With an obedient nod, Arthur gathered the rope in his arms and stepped out into the back garden. Rather than shove it back in the shed he threw it over the fence into his neighbour's garden much to his and Merlin's amusement.

"I need to show you something." Arthur said seriously and Merlin's laughter instantly stopped.

They joined hands and Arthur led Merlin up to his bedroom for the first time.

Closing the door, Arthur dropped his hand from Merlin's and picked up his 'Goodbye' letter. It shook in his hand slightly as he nervously handed it over for Merlin to read.

As Merlin read it, Arthur spread out on his bed and buried his face in the pillow unable to bring himself to look at the reactions on the other boy's face.

"You prat." Merlin said tearfully when he had finished reading.

Arthur turned to look at him and watched as he screwed the letter into a ball and tossed it into the bin.

"I'm really sorry." Arthur apologised again.

"Me too." Merlin replied. "That day in English, when you did your presentation, I should have told you that I loved you then."

"No, you had every right to be angry." Arthur told him. "Then there was the whole thing with Lancelot."

"About Lancelot." Merlin said and Arthur looked up fearing the Merlin was back with him again. "He didn't break up with me because of the age thing."

"Then… why?" Arthur asked.

"He dumped me because he knew that I was really in love with you." Merlin confessed.

"He did?" Arthur asked and Merlin nodded as he joined him on the bed. "Fucking hell. Doesn't this guy have _any _flaws?"

"Only one." Merlin replied with a smile.

"And what's that?" Arthur asked.

"He's not you." Merlin answered.

"Have I told you recently what a complete girl you are Merlin?" Arthur asked with a smirk.

"Shut up." Merlin said slapping him on the arm playfully.

Arthur grinned loving the fact he and Merlin could easily fall into a relaxed playful mood even after something so serious had transpired between them.

"So, does this mean we're together now?" Arthur asked as he lay on his back with Merlin settled on top of him.

Merlin pressed a few kisses along Arthur's neck before answering.

"Absolutely not." He said. "You have to ask me out properly first."

Rolling his eyes, Arthur stole another kiss from Merlin's lips before asking Merlin to be his boyfriend.

"Sure, why not." Merlin replied with a smile before dipping his head to meet Arthur's lips again.

**To Be Continued**

**Just the Epilogue to come now**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


	24. Epilogue

**Disclaimer-Another story but I still don't own Merlin**

**Thank you to everyone who read/reviewed/alerted/faved**

**Songs featured are 'Hate that I love you' by Rhianna and Ne-Yo, and 'Slave 4 U' by Britney Spears**

**Epilogue **

**Still age 15**

When Merlin and Arthur waltzed into Camelot School hand in hand they were met with a girly squeal of delight. Shockingly, the squeal did not come from Morgana, Freya or Gwen, but from Will.

As everybody turned to look at him with raised eyebrows, Will shifted uncomfortably and scratched his butt. All three girls rolled their eyes at him though there was a definite hint of fondness in Freya's irises. She was also the first to envelop the new couple in a hug.

"About time." She said speaking more towards Merlin than Arthur.

Gwen smiled happily at the two boys with her hands placed over her heart.

"I'm so happy for you." Gwen gushed in a dreamy voice. "You look so beautiful together."

"Faggots." Valiant hissed viciously as he passed them with Vivian dangling off his arm, though the two quickly hurried away when Morgana sent them a heated glare.

"One of these days I really am going to murder him." Morgana seethed as she glared at Valiant's retreating back.

"Leave it Gana, he's not worth it." Merlin told her. "We're always going to get the odd homophobic remark like that. You can't beat up every homophobe who insults us you know."

"I'm sure I could." Morgana insisted causing them all to chuckle slightly.

"Come on, we should get to class." Gwen said and they all made their way up to the building.

Before entering the classroom, Morgana looked over her shoulder and smiled as she saw Merlin and Arthur kiss.

"That's my boys." She said proudly.

***

Later that day, when Merlin and Arthur had English, they headed to the back of the classroom and sat down together so close that their thighs were touching.

Looking over at them, Miss Read's face broke into a radiant smile. They smiled back at her and both boys mouthed a 'thank you'.

As she taught the lesson, Miss Read found herself fiddling with the necklace beneath her shirt. The sight of the two boys at the back staring lovingly into one another's eyes and touching each other up beneath the table rather than pay attention caused the guilt she felt about her old best friends to ease somewhat.

"Miss Read," Morgana said when the lesson ended and the other students filed out for lunch. "I just want to say thank you. I don't know what you did but it really worked."

"You're welcome." She replied. "I'm just glad I could help."

"I like your necklace." Morgana commented as the teacher began fiddling with it again.

"I never take it off." Miss Read told her as she showed it to her pupil to give the girl a better look. "I've had it since I was about your age, younger even."

"Who are 'B' and 'C'?" Morgana asked nosily as she examined the handmade initials above and below the inscription of 'FOREVER'.

"Bradley and Colin." She answered. "They were my best friends growing up. Just like you, Merlin and Arthur. They didn't get their happy ending though."

"I'm sorry Miss." Morgana said sympathetically. "For a moment I almost thought my boys wouldn't get their happy ending either. But they did, thanks to you."

Miss Read smiled at her pupil before unclasping her necklace and placing it down on her desk.

"I thought you never took it off." Morgana said in confusion.

"Perhaps it's time I did." Miss Read replied as she picked up a pen and began scratching onto the pendant. "It's weird, for years I've felt like I was being choked by pain and guilt but now that the necklace is off… it's like I can breathe properly again."

Morgana stayed silent as she watched her teacher work and a few minutes later Miss Read handed the necklace to her. Looking down, Morgana saw that the initials 'A' and 'M' had been added.

"I want you to have it." Miss Read told her.

"Oh no, I couldn't." Morgana tried to argue but her teacher was firm in her decision and helped her hook the necklace around her neck. "Thank you."

Miss Read nodded to her with a smile and Morgana headed towards the door. Before she left, she paused and turned to look back at her teacher.

"Miss, what's your first name?" She enquired.

"Morgause." Miss Read answered.

***

After weeks and weeks of teasing and flirting with one another, Will and Freya finally got together.

It was a Thursday afternoon and everybody was gathered in the canteen. Will and Freya had been squabbling over some ridiculous thing and the argument had escalated until they were standing a foot away from each other yelling until they were red in the face.

"I hate you!" Freya had shrieked before storming away.

She hadn't got very far when Will jumped onto the table and started singing:

"And I hate how much I love you girl; I can't stand how much I need you…"

Freya, along with the rest of the student population, turned round to stare at Will in complete fascination. The most surprising thing of all was that Will was actually a fairly good singer.

"And I hate how much I love you girl…" Will continued starting to dance as well. It would be correct in saying that Will's dancing skills did not measure up to his singing ability. "But I just can't let you go, and I hate that I love you so."

He dragged out the last note then flipped off of the table and landed firmly on his feet. The canteen erupted into applause and Freya blinked several times wondering if she'd fallen asleep in History class and started daydreaming.

"Frey, this really is happening." Merlin whispered to her and he nudged her towards Will encouragingly.

Tucking her hair behind her ears Freya stepped up to Will and looked at him shyly. He was grinning down at her goofily with his hands in his pockets.

"I fancy you like mad alright." Will told her.

"I like you too." Freya replied with a smile.

They grinned at each other and Will pulled his hands out of his pockets to run one through the brunette's hair and rest the other at her slim waist.

"Do I get to make out with you now?" Will asked as he waggled his eyebrows.

"Yes!" Morgana and Gwen answered before Freya could open her mouth.

The entire canteen watched as Will and Freya leaned towards one another and shared their first kiss receiving laughter, applause and wolf-whistles. When they pulled apart, everyone got a full view of Will's erection tenting his trousers.

**Age 16**

On Arthur's sixteenth birthday, he had been dragged round to Morgana's house and Mrs. LeFay had cooked a meal for them. Merlin was also there along with Will, Freya, Gwen and Leon.

Morgana had gotten fed up with waiting for Leon to make the first move so she had made it herself. During a P.E lesson she had walked into the boys' changing room causing quite a stir amongst the half naked teenage boys. She then marched up to Leon, complimented him on his cock size, pinned him to the wall and kissed him before informing him that they were going on a date later that evening. Although shocked, Leon was clearly delighted and the two had been together ever since.

For Morgana's sixteenth birthday, she had a disco. Although she didn't like that many people she generously invited them to her party. After all, more guests meant more presents and one could never have enough presents.

Shortly after Morgana's birthday, it was Merlin's. His mum asked him what it was he wanted to do and he decided to keep it simple. Although sixteen was an important number he didn't feel the need to celebrate it with a huge party.

Instead, he hosted a sleepover with just Arthur, Morgana and himself. He had his other friends over during the day but the night was just for the three of them, like old times.

As Merlin's bedroom was small, they were sleeping downstairs on the living-room floor. After watching Morgana's favourite movies and stuffing their faces with pizza and ice-cream, the three old friends sat talking quietly about their younger years.

"Do you remember when we went on a school trip to France?" Arthur asked. "And I found that piece of jaw bone in the caves."

"Oh yeah." Morgana said. "And you spent loads of money on strawberries then found out you could have gotten them cheaper somewhere else."

"Ha, I remember that." Merlin laughed.

"And you kept getting sunburnt." Morgana remembered referring to Merlin. "The teachers had to keep telling you to stay out of the sunlight and stay in the shade."

"What about our trip to Wales?" Merlin asked. "That medieval village we went to, do you remember?"

"Ha-ha, our class practically destroyed that place." Arthur laughed. "The owners were not impressed."

"And the chicken. Do you remember the chicken?" Morgana asked. "It kept following us around."

The three of them laughed at their fond memories before Merlin let out a large yawn.

"It's probably time we got some sleep." Arthur said reasonably.

"Oh no, not yet." Morgana pleaded as she sat up on her knees. "I want you two to make out for me first."

"What?" Merlin and Arthur spluttered together.

"Oh come on." Morgana begged. "You know how much I enjoy seeing you two kiss. It's adorable and hot all at the same time. Come on, just one kiss."

"No, it's weird." Arthur replied.

"Fine." Morgana huffed. "I guess I'm just going to have to sing all night long."

She opened her mouth threateningly and that was enough to get the two boys to cave in.

"Ok, ok, one kiss." Merlin told her hurriedly.

"Yay!" Morgana said triumphantly as she clapped her hands together and looked expectantly at the two boys.

"I still say this is weird." Arthur muttered as Merlin moved closer to him. "Her obsession with our relationship is unhealthy."

"Just pretend she isn't here." Merlin advised.

They faced one another and brought their mouths together. The kiss was slow and unhurried and they took their time exploring one another's mouths with their tongues. Merlin moaned into the kiss and Arthur ran one hand through Merlin's hair and ran the over down his back to squeeze the boy's bum much to Morgana's delight.

They pulled apart and their mouths lingered together for a few moments before they turned to face Morgana who was grinning broadly.

"Don't stop on my account." She said. "I think you boys should carry on."

"I told you we should have got her that gay porn movie for her birthday." Arthur quipped.

"I'd rather see my two boys in action." Morgana told them.

"Fine, another kiss, but that's it." Merlin told her.

"With your tops off this time." Morgana interjected before their lips connected.

The two boys rolled their eyes before peeling off their shirts. This time, their kiss was hungrier as they put on a show for Morgana and danced their hands across one another's exposed flesh.

After pulling away from Merlin's mouth, Arthur moved down to Merlin's neck before venturing lower to suckle at his nipples then kiss and lick down his stomach. He even sucked at the bulge in Merlin's pants through the material of his night trousers before moving back to his lips again.

"There, that's your lot." Arthur said to Morgana. "Now it's time to sleep."

"I really do love you guys." Morgana sighed as they all settled into their sleeping bags.

Arthur was in the middle with Merlin to his right and Morgana on the left. Both of the dark-haired teenagers cuddled up to the blonde resting their heads on his chest. He placed an arm around each of them and closed his eyes preparing to sleep.

"Any chance of a threesome?" Morgana asked half-joking and half-serious.

Merlin chuckled in a mixture of shock and embarrassment whilst Arthur rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath before turning onto his side and gathering Merlin in his arms with his back to Morgana.

"I don't share LeFay." Arthur told her firmly.

**Age 17**

Although they had been together for over a year, Merlin and Arthur still hadn't had sex. They'd kissed, they'd groped, they'd had a shower together one time and Arthur had licked Merlin's arsehole out but they had not engaged in full-on intimacy.

Though Merlin had been fully satisfied with the sensual kisses and occasional hand-job or blow-job, he decided that he wanted to take their relationship to the next level.

He invited Arthur over to his house when he knew his mother would be elsewhere. He had no idea how to be seductive so he had asked Morgana for advice. She had told him that all he needed to do was put on some music and perform a strip-tease, and then Arthur would be begging to take Merlin to the bedroom.

When Arthur arrived, Merlin led him to his bed room and indicated for him to sit on the bed. He then moved to his C.D player and skipped to the right track. As the first verse kicked in, Arthur just raised an eyebrow in question at the song choice.

"It's Gwen's C.D." Merlin informed him.

"If you say so." Arthur replied.

As the chorus started, Merlin began to sway his hips and wiggle his bum in front of Arthur.

*I'm a slave for you* Merlin toed off his shoes and kicked them to the corner of the room. *I cannot hold it, I cannot control it* He turned back to face Arthur then slipped off his socks and threw them over his shoulder. *I'm a slave for you. I won't deny it, I'm not trying to hide it* Merlin slowly peeled off his top and tossed it to Arthur who was watching the boy dance with a smirk on his lips. *Baby, don't you wanna, dance upon me* Merlin thrust his pelvis in front of Arthur's face. Merlin then hooked his thumbs into his jeans and pushed them down his hips. He got them down to his knees before he overbalanced and tumbled backwards causing Arthur to laugh and Merlin to blush.

Groaning in embarrassment, Merlin scrambled to his feet and switched the music off then kicked his jeans the rest of the way off. He then moved to straddle Arthur on the bed and the blonde immediately stopped laughing.

"Arthur, I want…" Merlin trailed off not knowing how to word his desire. Instead he stared deep into Arthur's eyes hoping his boyfriend would understand his meaning.

"Want what?" Arthur asked trying to sound oblivious but the glint in his eye betrayed him. He clearly knew what Merlin was asking for but he obviously wanted the pale boy to say it out loud. "Come on _Mer_lin. Tell me."

Flushing slightly, Merlin dipped his head down and melded his lips against Arthur's. He then pulled back before leaning into Arthur's ear and licking the shell. The sensation made the blonde shiver and grip Merlin's hips tight.

"I want us to… fuck." Merlin said.

"Say please." Arthur instructed with a smirk.

"You've got to be kidding me." Merlin thought out loud. He rolled his eyes then moved off Arthur's lap and positioned himself on the bed with his arse in the air. "Please fuck me." He said quickly, his face burning in embarrassment.

"No." Arthur replied and Merlin moved into a sitting position and swallowed a lump in his throat as the feeling of rejection washed over him.

Merlin made a move to pull his clothing back on but Arthur caught him by the wrist and stopped him. The blonde then took a gentle hold on Merlin's chin and guided his face to his own and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.

"I don't want to fuck you Merlin." Arthur told him softly. "I want to make love to you."

Merlin blushed harder as his face broke out into a wide smile. They kissed again and Merlin got to work on helping Arthur undress. Once they were both fully nude there was a slight feeling of awkwardness as neither teen knew what they were doing.

It was Merlin who dared to move things along by kneeling on the floor between Arthur's spread legs and taking his length into his mouth. Arthur rested himself back on his elbows and watched Merlin work. They kept eye contact throughout, Merlin watching as Arthur's chest moved up and down and Arthur watching his cock disappear down Merlin's throat.

When Arthur was getting close to release, Merlin pulled away and moved back up to kiss the blonde. Arthur then manoeuvred them so that Merlin was on his stomach and Arthur scooted down to the bottom of the bed and rubbed his hands across the globes of Merlin's ass.

He parted Merlin's soft pale cheeks then dipped his head down to lick all the way from Merlin's balls, over his tight hole then along his crack. A small whimper escaped Merlin's lips and the sound went straight to Arthur's groin. He squeezed his lover's butt cheeks lightly as he flicked his tongue around Merlin's opening.

Pulling his mouth away slightly, Arthur placed kissed all the way up Merlin's spine to the back of his neck.

"Do you have lube or something?" Arthur asked in a whisper.

"Drawer." Merlin answered.

Arthur leaned across and pulled out the tube of KY Jelly. He was surprised to find that the tube was half empty.

"I borrowed it from Morgana." Merlin explained.

A small look of revulsion crossed Arthur's handsome features before he shook it from his mind and squeezed a generous amount of lube onto his digits. He gently fingered Merlin's opening before probing inside and loosening the boy up.

"Condom?" Arthur asked when he felt Merlin was prepared enough.

"Didn't get any." Merlin replied sheepishly. "I wanted the first time to be… you know… you. I want to feel you."

Arthur just smiled down at him and kissed his lips lightly before using more lube to coat his cock. He then guided Merlin onto his back with his knees up and his legs spread. Slowly, he eased his way into Merlin's passage.

A wince of pain escaped Merlin and he turned his head to the side and bit down on his lip. Arthur muttered a string of apologies mixed with reassurances as he gently pulled out before pushing back in again. For the first few minutes, it sounded as though Merlin was in pure agony but soon he was groaning in pleasure and arching his hips upwards to meet Arthur's thrusts.

"I love you." Merlin gasped.

"Love you too." Arthur returned as he rested his forehead against his lovers as he continued to move in and out of him.

**Age 18**

Morgana and Leon broke up. It was a mutual decision with no hard feelings left afterwards. There was no animosity between them and neither had cheated on the other or anything of the sort. They just decided that they weren't really in love with one another and they worked better as friends than as a couple.

In contrast to this, Gwen met a twenty year old named Santiago and the tall, dark, handsome man had swept Gwen off her feet and the two seemed very much in love.

For Arthur's eighteenth birthday, Morgana had persuaded Uther to finally throw his son a proper birthday party. There was music, there was alcohol, there was food, there was karaoke, and there were a group of extremely muscular male strippers and a heck of a mess to clean up in the morning.

During the summer, Will and Freya had taken their first holiday together. They spent a fortnight in Las Vegas and came back as a married couple.

**Age 19**

Arthur and Merlin had their first big fight as a couple. In the New Year, Merlin had bumped into Lancelot at a pub one evening. The two started talking over a drink of beer and were laughing happily together when Arthur arrived to meet his boyfriend.

Although the situation had been perfectly innocent, Arthur was filled with jealousy. When they got home to the flat they shared Merlin had told Arthur he was being childish. They argued before Arthur stormed out.

That night, Merlin slept alone in their shared bed crying silent tears. He kept trying to call Arthur but the blonde would not answer his phone. When he returned the following morning he was sporting fresh love bites on his neck.

Arthur confessed to getting drunk the night before and cheating on Merlin with someone else.

Angry and hurt, Merlin shouted at Arthur to pack his things and move out. The blonde had just shut the lid of his suitcase when Merlin started apologizing and crying begging Arthur not to leave him.

"No Merlin, this is my fault." Arthur said as he pulled the taller boy to him. "I'm so sorry. I love you so much. I'm sorry. You're my boy, baby. Forever."

"Forever." Merlin echoed.

**Age 20**

Whilst Merlin was training to be a doctor, Arthur was learning the ropes of his father's business. Working with his father brought the two Pendragon men closer together and as it neared Valentine's Day, Arthur suggested his father started dating again.

After deep consideration, Uther took his son's advice. Shockingly, his first date was with Morgana's mother.

"It's so wrong in so many ways." Arthur commented to Merlin as they sat in front of the T.V with their takeaway pizza.

"I think it's sweet." Merlin replied. "And hey, if things work out maybe they'll get married. Then you'll have Gana for a step-sister."

"As I said, so wrong is so many ways." Arthur repeated.

**Age 21**

Morgana decided to go travelling. They all bid her farewell at the airport and wished her luck. She beamed at them all before skipping off obviously excited with the prospect of seeing the world.

"I bet you that as we speak, our Morgana is officially becoming a member of the mile high club." Will said.

"William." Freya scalded as she hit her husband in the chest.

"What's the mile high club?" Morgana's mother asked and Uther grinned in response before whispering something in her ear that promptly made the woman blush.

**Age 22**

When Morgana returned from her travels, she brought a dirty-blonde haired man named Alvarr with her. She had also come to the decision that she wanted to become a teacher.

Later that year, Arthur's father and Morgana's mother did in fact marry thereby making the two old friends step-siblings.

**Age 23**

On their anniversary, Merlin and Arthur took a trip down to London to see the musical 'Rent'. After the theatre they dined in a posh restaurant. All around them were couples, families and business associates who were clearly middle and upper-class.

For the fun of it, the two lovers slurped at their food and chewed with their mouths open. They also burped several times earning themselves plenty of disgusted looks which only added to their amusement. Eventually they were asked to leave but Arthur refused and insisted he get his pudding first.

When they made it back home they made love and just as Merlin was slipping off to sleep Arthur asked him to marry him.

"Yes." Merlin replied happily suddenly wide awake and the two made love again.

**Age 24**

Morgana was now a trainee English teacher at Camelot Secondary School, Miss Read no longer worked there.

During her first term there, Morgana witnessed the break down of a friendship between two boys named James and Morgan and a girl named Katie.

One day, she kept the two boys behind and told them two stories. One story was about two boys named Colin and Bradley the other story was about two boys named Merlin and Arthur. After telling the two stories she asked the two teenagers which ending they'd prefer to have for themselves.

The two boys looked at each other, blue eyes meeting blue, blonde hair and dark hair. Finally, James pulled Morgan to him and crushed his lips against the other boys.

The following day, Katie had thanked Morgana for her help. She smiled down at her pupil before unfastening the necklace she wore and handing it over to Katie.

"Forever." Katie read aloud.

**The End**

**Please Review**

**Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx**


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